The Fight For Survival
by TealDetective
Summary: Nera was an ordinary girl with loving parents and a few close friends. She was bright and understanding and was in a lot of top classes on the Ark. But a difficult time ends with her in lock up and eventually an impossible mission to the ground with 99 others. And down on the ground, only the strong survive...
1. The Ground (Pilot)

_I ran my hand through my dark hair and sighed, looking at Jack, one of the few friends I had._

_"You're such a baby," I said._

_"No, I'm just not a criminal," Jack replied._

_"They're hiding something. And hacking into the Ark's system is the only way we're gonna find out what's going on," I reminded him._

_"Well I don't wanna be put in a holding cell," Jack said._

_"Jack-"_

_"No. I'm going. Bye Nera," he left the room and I watched the door close behind him. I shook my head and turned back to the computer, continuing to hack into the Ark's system. I smiled as I got into the system. But my smile faded when I found out that... the Ark's... dying. The door burst open and two guards walked in._

_"Nera Clarkson, you're under arrest," one of them said._

_"Oh great," I sighed as they grabbed me and pulled me out of the room. As they dragged me out of the room I saw Jack and Wells, the chancellor's son. "You son of a bitch!" I yelled at him. I lunged at him but the guards held me back. "You told them!" The guards had to drag me away from Jack as I continued to yell at him. The guards took me through the halls of the ship. I didn't even try to struggle, knowing that any resistance was futile._

_"Nera?" I recognised that voice. Bellamy. We'd been friends for as long as I could remember. _

_"Bellamy!" I shouted._

_"Nera!" Bellamy followed the guards as they took me away. "What's going on?" He demanded but the guards ignored him and took me to the holding cells. They threw me into an empty cell and I hit the floor hard. I lifted my head and looked up only to see the door close. _

* * *

That was the last time I saw Jack. And the last time I saw anybody, except the guards and occasionally Bellamy. He would try to visit me but most times he was told to go away. I've been in this cell for two years and three months, according to the numbers on the wall. These have been two of the most boring years of my life. However, it will all end tomorrow, on my 18th birthday, when I will be reviewed, and then they will decide to float me. That's what happens to criminals on the Ark. If they're under 18 they're put in a holding cell. If they're 18 or over they're floated. Every crime, no matter how small, is punishable by death here. It's stupid, but that's just how it is here. I hate it on the Ark. Every place is the same boring grey colour. It's dull and lifeless. But I don't know any different. I've read about what Earth used to be like 97 years ago. Before the nuclear apocalypse that forced everyone to live in space stations. There used to be 12 space stations but now there is only one; forged from the 12 that there used to be. We've been told that we have to wait at least 100 years until the Earth will be survivable again. But I am stuck in this cell with only my thoughts to keep me company seeing as I've never had a cell mate. It's always just been me. So what have I been doing with my time? Thinking. Well, I've been singing as well. I sing the old songs that people listened to before the nuclear apocalypse, they are much better than the rubbish music the Ark tried to play. I hear the door open and I look up seeing two guards walk in.

"Prisoner 314, face the wall," one of them commands. I stand up and face the back wall.

"You couldn't wait until tomorrow, could you?" I say, sighing.

"Quiet. Hold out your right arm," the guard orders. I glance over my shoulder and see him taking a silver wristband out of a box full of them.

"You know, I'm still 17. I get reviewed tomorrow, not today," I shake my head.

"Hold out your arm," he repeats. I hold out my right arm and feel a sharp pain, like 12 needles are piercing my skin. I look at my wrist and see a wristband firmly attached to it. The guard grabs my arm and roughly pushes me in front of him. He pushes me out of the holding cell and I see other juvenile offenders being taken in the same direction I am being taken.

"What is going on?" I ask, though it comes out in a whisper.

* * *

I am forced to board a ship with the other juvenile offenders. I look around at the others and see someone familiar. I make my way through the crowd of other people towards her.

"Octavia?" I recognise. She looks at me and smiles.

"Nera!" She hugs me and I hug her back. "Oh my God!" She pulls away and glances around. "At least I'm not alone," she says. Octavia is one of my best friends. I had three friends, Jack, Bellamy and Octavia. Now I only have Bellamy and Octavia because Jack got me Confined. I've known Octavia for a long time, Bellamy trusted me enough to tell me about her. And I think he wanted her to have a friend.

"Do you have any idea what's happening?" I ask.

"Not a clue," she replies. A guard orders everyone to sit down and put their seatbelts on. Octavia and I sit next to each other and I put my seatbelt on. Soon after, the ship launches.

"I wanna know what's going on," Octavia states as she looks around. "Are they killing us?"

"I don't think so. We'll find out what's happening," I say. Octavia and I talk for a while until the drop ship suddenly jerks.

"What was that?" Octavia asks. A TV on the wall next to us crackles with static before an image of the Chancellor appears.

"Prisoners of The Ark, hear me now," he starts. "You've been given a second chance, and as your Chancellor, it is my hope that you see this as not just a chance for you, but a chance for all of us, indeed for mankind itself. We have no idea what is waiting for you down there. If the odds of survival were better, we would've sent others. Frankly, we're sending you because your crimes have made you expendable."

"How is being born a crime?" Octavia mutters.

"At least we know what's going on," I say quietly.

"Your dad's a dick, Wells!" A guy yells. A small laugh escapes my lips. I don't have anything against Wells but I don't exactly like him or his father.

"Those crimes will be forgiven, your records wiped clean," the Chancellor continues. "The drop site has been chosen carefully. Before the last war, Mount Weather was a military base built within a mountain. It was to be stocked with enough non-perishables to sustain 300 people for up to two years." I tune out as I notice a guy, who has taken off his seatbelt, floating around.

"Spacewalk bandit strikes again," someone says. Octavia cheers as she watches him.

"Go Finn!" Someone else cheers. Two guys start to take off their seatbelts.

"Stay in your seats!" I hear Clarke yell, so she's here too. I vaguely know Clarke, she helped her mum treat me one time when I got really sick. The drop ship jerks violently and the three guys out of their seats flew in different directions. The ship continues to shake, sparks fly everywhere and the lights start flickering.

* * *

Then it stops, everything is still and silent.

"Listen," A guy strapped to the wall says, "no machine hum."

"Whoah, that's a first," the guy next to him says. Everyone unbuckles their seatbelts, I do the same and stand up. I see the guys who took their seatbelts off. Finn is fine but the other two lie motionless on the floor.

"The outer door is on the lower level, let's go!" Someone yells and everyone scrambles down the ladder.

"No, we can't just open the doors!" Clarke exclaims and hurries down the ladder.

"We've landed on Earth," I state. "Am I dreaming?"

"I hope not," Octavia replies. I hear a familiar voice from downstairs.

"Is that..." I look at Octavia.

"Bellamy," Octavia smiles and goes down the ladder. I follow her. We walk through the crowd to the front to see we were right. Bellamy is stood in front of us.

"My God, look how big you are," he says to Octavia. She walks up to him and hugs him.

"What the hell are you wearing?" Octavia pulls away from the hug. "A guard's uniform?"

"I borrowed it, to get on the drop ship," Bellamy answers. "Someone has to keep an eye on you and Nera." He glances at me. Octavia rolls her eyes and hugs him again. I smile at them.

"Where's your wristband?" Clarke asks, I didn't even notice she's standing next to me. Octavia turns to face her.

"Do you mind? I haven't seen my brother in a year."

"No one has a brother," a guy yells.

"That's Octavia Blake," a girl yells, "the girl they found hidden under the floor." Octavia tries to leap forwards, probably to hit whoever said that, but Bellamy holds her back.

"Octavia! Octavia, no. Let's give them something else to remember you by," he says.

"Yeah? Like what?" Octavia looks at him.

"Like being the first person on the ground in 100 years," he replies. Octavia smiles and faces the door of the drop ship. Bellamy turns around and pulls the lever that opens the door.

* * *

A bright light meets my eyes, blinding me as my eyes adjust to the light. I gasp at the sight before me. Trees. Tall, green, amazing trees. Octavia steps forward and takes a breath of air. She slowly walks down the ramp and jumps onto the ground. She throws her arms up into the air.

"WE'RE BACK BITCHES!" She shouts. I smile and walk down the ramp as others run out of the drop ship, yelling and cheering. I look around in awe as I take in the forest around me.

"We made it," I say. "Now all we gotta do is survive. That's easier said than done."

"Hey, Nera," Bellamy walks up to me. "Enjoy being on the ground for a few minutes and then worry about how we're gonna survive here."

"It's good to see you too, Bellamy," I smile at him.

"I just remembered that I'm a little annoyed with you, Nera," Octavia says.

"You just remembered that?" I look at her.

"Yeah, you were my only friend and then you got yourself Confined."

"Sorry, the Ark doesn't like it when someone knows their secrets," I respond. Octavia and Bellamy laugh. I notice a small dispute going on between Wells, Clarke and Murphy's gang. Murphy is an extremely unpleasant guy who I've always tried to avoid.

"We're just trying to figure out where we are," Wells says.

"We're on the ground." Bellamy cuts in. "That not good enough for you?"

"We need to find Mount Weather," Wells states as he begins to walk towards us, Clarke following. "You heard my father's message. That has to be our first priority." He's got a point, we need those supplies to survive here.

"Screw your father," Octavia says. "What? You think you're in charge here? You and, your little princess?" She looks at Clarke.

"Do you think we care who's in charge?" Clarke speaks up. "We need to get to Mount Weather not because the Chancellor said so, but because the longer we wait, the hungrier we will get and the harder this will be. How long do you think we'll last without those supplies? We're looking at a 20 mile trek, okay? So if we want to get there before dark, we need to leave. Now."

"She does have a point," I say quietly.

"I got a better idea," Bellamy says. "You two go, find it for us. Let the privileged do the hard work for a change." Many people shout in agreement.

"You're not listening," Wells looks around. "We all need to go."

"Look at this everybody," Murphy walks up to Wells, "the Chancellor of Earth."

"Think that's funny?" Wells stares at Murphy. Murphy kicks Wells's leg and he falls to the ground.

"Wells," Clarke tries to step forwards but someone holds her back.

"No but that was," Murphy looks down at Wells who stands up. "All right." The two get into fighting stances. I watch not really knowing what to do. This is wrong. I don't like Wells anyway but that's no reason to beat him up, like Murphy's about to. Finn jumps down from the side of the drop ship in between Wells and Murphy.

"Kid's got one leg," Finn states, "how about you wait until it's a fair fight?"

"Hey spacewalker," Octavia calls as she walks up to him, "rescue me next." Some people laugh and Finn smiles at her. Everyone walks off to do whatever they were doing before. Bellamy looks at Octavia disapprovingly.

"What? He's cute," Octavia says. I laugh quietly and shake my head at her as I walk away.

* * *

I walk around the site where we landed. It's a pretty good site to set up a camp, as long as there's a water source nearby.

"How are the two of you gonna carry enough food for 100?" I hear Wells ask. I stop walking and look at Clarke, Wells and Finn. Finn grabs two guys and turns them to face Clarke and Wells.

"Four of us. Now can we go?"

"Correction, five of us," I say, joining them.

"Sounds like a party. Make it six," Octavia walks up to us, Bellamy following.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Bellamy grabs Octavia's arm.

"Going for a walk," Octavia shrugs him off.

"Hey," Clarke walks up to Finn and grabs his wrist, looking at his wristband. "Were you trying to take this off?"

"Yeah, so?" Finn shrugs at her.

"So this wristband transmits your vital signs to the Ark. Take it off and they'll think your dead," Clarke tells him.

"Should I care?"

"Well, I don't know. Do you want the people you love to think your dead?"

"What if the people you love aren't on the Ark?" I speak up. The others look at me. "What? One of my best friends betrayed me and my parents were floated. There's no one I care about up there." That was true. My parents were floated for knowing something about the Ark they shouldn't have known. And the only people I care about now are Bellamy and Octavia. But they're here on the ground, not on the Ark.

"What about the innocent people up there?" Clarke asks. She looks at Finn again. "Do you want them to follow you down here in two months? Because they won't if they think we're dying." Finn doesn't respond. "Okay, now let's go," Clarke begins walking into the forest. I follow her and the others follow behind me. Octavia walks beside Clarke.

"Before you get any ideas, Finn's mine," Octavia says.

"Before you get any ideas, I don't care," Clarke responds.

* * *

We walk for a bit at quite a slow pace. I now know the names of the guys with us, Jasper and Monty. They are walking behind me. Finn and Octavia are in front of me. Clarke is way ahead at the front. We come across some purple flowers. Finn picks one and puts it in Octavia's hair.

"Now that, my friend, is game," Jasper says, motioning to Finn and Octavia.

"That, my friend, is poison sumac," Monty says.

"What?" Octavia takes the flower out of her hair and throws it on the ground. "It is?"

"The flowers aren't poisonous. They're medicinal, calming, actually," Monty tells her.

"His family grows all the pharmaceuticals on the Ark," Jasper explains when Finn and Octavia look at Monty wondering how he knows that. Clarke stops and faces us.

"Hey, guys. Would you try to keep up?"

"Come on, Clarke," Finn sighs. "How do you block all this out?"

"Well, it's simple. I wonder, why haven't we seen any animals? Maybe it's because there are none-"

"Maybe it's because they don't like you," I cut her off and the others chuckle. Clarke narrows her eyes at me.

"Maybe we've already been exposed to enough radiation to kill us," Clarke continues. "It sure is pretty though. Come on." She resumes walking.

"Someone should slip her some poison sumac," Octavia mutters. We all continue walking.

* * *

"I got to know what you two did to get busted," Finn says to Jasper and Monty.

"Sumac is not the only herb in the garden, if you know what I mean," Monty replies.

"Someone forgot to replace what we took," Jasper comments in a way that makes me think it was Monty who didn't replace what they took.

"Someone has apologised like a thousand times," Monty retorts.

"What about you, Nera?" Finn asks me.

"I hacked into the Ark's system," I answer. "My friend, well he's not my friend anymore, Jack told Wells what I was doing. They got the guards and I was confined."

"That sucks," Monty says.

"Octavia, what'd they get you for?" Jasper questions.

"Being born," she replies. Clarke motions for us to come over quietly. We catch up to her and she points to a deer, grazing.

"No animals huh?" Finn looks at Clarke. Finn tries to get closer, a twig snaps under his foot. The deer looks up and turn its head in our direction. I gasp in shock and move backwards slightly. It looks like there's another head growing out the side of the other head. It studies us for a few seconds before it runs away somewhere.

* * *

"Hey, you know what I'd like to know?" Finn speaks as we continue walking through the forest. "Why send us down after 97 years? What changed?"

"Who cares? I'm just glad they did. I woke up in a rotting cell, and now," she spins round a tree, "I'm spinning in a forest."

"Maybe they found something on a satellite, you know, like an old weather satellite or..." Jasper trails off.

"It wasn't a satellite," Clarke sighs.

"The Ark's dying," I state. "That's why now."

"Is that why you hacked into the Ark's system? To find that out?" Jasper asks.

"Yeah, I knew they were hiding something. Although, I don't know how much longer the people on the Ark have."

"I do," Clarke says. "At the current population level there's roughly three months left of life support. Maybe four now that we're gone."

"So that was the secret they locked you up to keep," Finn speaks up. "Why they kept you in solitary? Floated your old man."

"My father was the engineer who discovered the flaw," Clarke says. "He thought the people had a right to know. The council disagreed. My mother disagreed. They were afraid it would cause a panic. We were gonna go public anyway when Wells..."

"What? Turned in your dad?" Finn looks at Clarke. We stop walking, again.

"It wouldn't surprise me if he did." I say. "Wells turned me in. He turned my parents in too. They were floated for knowing that the Ark is dying."

"He did turn my dad in," Clarke confirms. "Anyway the guard showed up before we could tell anyone. That's why today. That's why it was worth the risk. Even if we all die, at least they bought themselves more time."

"They're gonna kill more people aren't they?" Monty asks.

"Good," Octavia pipes up. "After what they did to me I say float them all."

"I agree with you, O," I look at her. We both start walking again.

"You don't mean that," Jasper says, catching up with us.

* * *

Octavia and I find a river, we look at each other and smile. Octavia takes her outer layer of clothing off.

"Octavia, what the hell are you doing?" Clarke yells. Octavia looks at Clarke before she jumps into the water.

"Octavia, we can't swim," I say.

"No. But we can stand," Octavia smiles.

"Wait. There's not supposed to be a river here," Clarke realises.

"Well there is," Finn says. "So take off your damn clothes."

"Octavia, get out of the water!" Jasper yells. I look downstream and see a dark shape under the surface moving towards Octavia.

"Get out of the water now!" I shout. Octavia screams as she gets pulled under.

"Octavia!" Jasper and I shout.

"What the hell is that?" Finn asks.

"We have to help her," I say. Jasper takes his jacket off. "What are you gonna do?"

"Try not to get eaten."

"No, wait," Clarke crouches down. "If we distract it, it might let her go. Help me." We push a rock into the water and the creature lets go of Octavia and swims away.

"It worked. It let her go," Finn says.

"Octavia, get to the shore now!" Jasper yells. He jumps into the water and makes his way to Octavia.

"It's coming back," Finn tells us. Then I see it.

"It's headed right for you guys," I shout to Octavia and Jasper.

"Come on, come on. Keep going," Finn yells to them. Jasper pulls Octavia out of water and they both sit on a rock by the river. We run over to them. There's a big wound on Octavia's leg. Clarke crouches beside her and looks at her leg.

"Okay," she rips the bottom of Jasper's shirt and ties it just above Octavia's wound to slow the bleeding. "You're gonna be okay."

"Thank you," Octavia hugs Jasper. "Thank you."

"Note to self, next time, save the girl," Monty says.

* * *

The next day we find a vine that looks strong enough to hold the weight of a person so we could swing across a river.

"You wanted to go first. Now quit stalling," Clarke looks at Finn. "Mount Weather awaits."

"Just hang on till the apogee, you'll be fine," Jasper says to Finn.

"The apogee, like the Indians, right?"

"Apogee, not apache."

"He knows," Clarke rolls her eyes. "Today, Finn."

"Aye, aye, captain," Finn salutes Clarke. "See you on the other side."

"Wait! I think Nera should go first," Octavia says. "After all, it is her 18th birthday." I look at her in surprise.

"You remember my birthday?"

"Of course I remember your birthday. You were my only friend."

"Happy birthday, Nera," Clarke smiles at me. The others say happy birthday as well.

"Alright, birthday girl first," Finn says. I smile and stand beside Finn. I grab the vine and Finn makes sure it's safe. Finn looks at me, "you ready?" I nod at him. He pushes me and I swing to the other side. I laugh and land on the other side of the river. I cheer loudly and the others start cheering too. A small conversation goes on and then Jasper swings across as well.

"WE ARE ADVENTURERS!" Jasper yells. Clarke grabs the vine next.  
"Come on, Clarke!" I shout. "You got this!"

"Woo!" Jasper smiles widely. "Apogee!" I laugh at him. He finds a sign and picks it up. "We did it!" He holds up the sign. "Mount Weather!" He cheers even more and then suddenly a spear hits him.

"Jasper!" My eyes widen at the sight of him.

"JASPER!" The others yell. I feel something impact my arm and my vision goes blurry. The last thing I hear is the others shout my name before darkness consumes my senses.


	2. Earth Skills

~Bellamy's P.O.V~

I watch as Murphy and Wells fight each other. I hope Nera and Octavia come back soon. I can't protect them when they're not here. And it's Nera's 18th birthday today. I've been confused about my feelings for her for a long time. I definitely like her as more than a friend, I think I might be in love with her.

"Wells!" Clarke's voice yells. They must be back. Wells is holding Murphy with a knife at his throat. "Let him go!" Clarke says as she rushes over with Finn trailing behind. Wells roughly pushes Murphy to the ground. Murphy gets up and moves to attack Wells but I stop him.

"Enough, Murphy." I notice a guy helping Octavia walk. "Octavia!" I go to her and help her walk. "Are you all right?" If she's here then where's Nera?

"Yeah," she replies.

"Where's the food?" I look at Clarke.

"We didn't make it to Mount Weather," Finn answers for her.

"What the hell happened out there? And where's Nera?" I demand, sensing something's wrong.

"We were attacked," Clarke says.

"Attacked? By what?" Wells asks.

"Not what," Finn speaks up, "who. Turns out, the last man from the ground that died on the Ark, he wasn't the last grounder."

"It's true," Clarke confirms. "Everything we thought we knew about the ground is wrong. There are people here. Survivors. The good news is, that means we can survive. Radiation won't kill us."

"The bad news is the grounders will," Finn says.

"You still haven't answered my question. Where is Nera?" I ask again.

"And where's the kid with the goggles?" Wells wonders.

"Jasper was hit," Clarke replies. "So was Nera. They took them." I narrow my eyes at her.

"What?" I say through gritted teeth. "You lost her! I should never have let her leave!"

"I'm sorry, Bell. They got Nera, there was nothing we could do," Octavia says.

"We have to get her back," I state.

"Where's your wristband?" Clarke questions, looking at Wells's wrist.

"Ask him," Wells responded, glaring at me. Clarke turns to face me.

"How many?"

"24 and counting," Murphy replies.

"You idiots. Life support on the Ark is failing." Everyone else has gone silent and people listen to Clarke. "That's why they sent us down here. They need to know if the ground is survivable again and we need their help against whoever is out there. If you take off your wristbands you're not just, killing them. You're killing us."

"We're stronger than you think," I say. I have to win them over. If they keep their wristbands on the Ark will come down and I will be killed. Then there will be no one to keep an eye on Nera and Octavia. "Don't listen to her. She's one of the privileged. If they come down, she'll have it good. How many of you can say the same? We can take care of ourselves. That wristband on your arm, that makes you a prisoner. We _are not_ prisoners anymore! They say they'll forgive your crimes. I say, you're not criminals! You're fighters, survivors! The grounders should worry about us!" The others shout in agreement, I know I've won them over.

* * *

I get Octavia and clean the wound on her leg.

"What the hell was it?" I ask her.

"I don't know," she answers. "The others said it looked like a giant snake."

"You could've been killed. And Nera could be dead already," I sigh.

"We're going to get Jasper and Nera back," Clarke says with Wells following.

"I'm coming too," Octavia decides.

"No, no. No way," I say as I stand up. "Not again."

"But Nera's my best friend and Jasper saved my life."

"He's right," Clarke looks at Octavia. "Your leg's just gonna slow us down."

"I'll go. Nera is out there and I'm not coming back until I find her," I state, putting my jacket on.

"I hear you have a gun," Clarke says and I nod.

"What? You can't let him come," Wells exclaims.

"Like hell I'm staying here."

"He's coming with us, Wells. Come on, let's go," Clarke starts walking with Wells following her.

"Murphy, come with me. Atom? My sister doesn't leave this camp, is that clear?" Atom nods.

"I don't need a babysitter," Octavia says.

"Anybody touches her, they answer to me. Let's go," I walk away from camp, following Clarke and Wells.

* * *

"Since when are we in the rescuing business, huh?" Murphy asks.

"The Ark thinks the prince is dead. Once they think the princess is too, they'll never come down. I'm getting that wristband, even if I have to cut off her hand to do it." And they've taken Nera away from me. I'm not letting them do that.

* * *

"Put the gun away Bellamy," Wells sighs as I have the gun in my hand.

"Well, why don't you do something about it, huh?" Murphy says.

"Jasper screamed when they moved him. If the spear struck his heart, he would've died instantly. And Nera was hit with what I'm guessing was a poisoned dart. They're alive and we need to find them."

"Then we have no time to waste," I say.

"We'll find them as soon as you take off your wristband," Murphy states, looking at Clarke.

"The only way the Ark is going to think I'm dead, is if I'm dead," Clarke steps close to Murphy menacingly. "Got it?"

"Brave princess," Murphy glares at her.

"Why don't you find your own nickname," Finn says, joining us. "You call this a rescue party? Gotta split up, cover more ground. Clarke, come with me."

* * *

Clarke and Finn go in one direction, we go in another. But we're close enough that we can still see each other. I notice Wells staring at Clarke. It's not difficult to work out he loves her. I think about Nera again. She better be alive, or I'll kill every one of those grounders.  
"Guess we got more in common that meets the eye," I say to Wells.  
"We have nothing in common," Wells disagrees.

"No? We both came down here to protect someone we love," I point out. Wells doesn't say anything. "You're secret's safe with me. 'Course, for you its worse. With Finn around, Clarke doesn't even see you. It's like you're not even here."

"You came down here to protect two people. So far, you haven't done a good job."

"We all make decisions we regret."

* * *

~Nera's P.O.V~

I open my eyes and blink a few times as my eyes adjust to the bright sunlight. The first thing I'm aware of is the pain in my ankle but I don't remember injuring it. I look around and see bushes around me. I notice I'm leaning against something and look to my side to see a tree trunk. I look up and see my hands are tied to a branch near my head, but I'm not focusing on that. Jasper is in the tree above me, blood covering his torso.

"Jasper?" I say weakly. Jasper groans loudly. I hear fast approaching footsteps but I can't work out how many sets of feet there are.

"Nera!" Bellamy's voice catches my attention. I look to the right and see Bellamy, Finn, Clarke, Wells and Murphy stood by the tree line.

"Jasper!" Clarke runs towards us, the others following. Clarke falls down what I'm guessing must be a trap. Bellamy grabs her arm in time to stop her from falling completely into the hole.

"Clarke! Get her up!" Finn yells whilst running to them.

"Pull her up!" Wells shouts as he also runs over. Murphy joins them and they all pull Clarke up. Bellamy runs up to me and cuts the vines tying my hands together. He pulls me into a tight hug. I remember the last time he hugged me this tightly...

* * *

_I woke up to a loud bang on the door to my family's home, "Open up!" I got up and walked into the main room. My parents came in and opened the door. Commander Shumway walked in with four guards._

_"What's going on?" My mother asked._

_"Sebastian and Rachael Clarkson, you're under arrest and are to be floated immediately," Shumway said. That hit me like a ton of bricks. I blinked and stared down at the floor in shock._

_"On what grounds?" My father demanded._

_"You've both committed treason," Shumway replied. "Seize them." The guards walked forward and grabbed my parents, leading them out into the hall. _

_"No! Let them go!" Tears welled up in my eyes and I followed them. Shumway was walking at the front. We walked all the way to the airlock chamber and my vision was blurred with tears that threatened to spill down my cheeks. Chancellor Jaha was stood there waiting for us. The guards and Commander Shumway moved to the side and Chancellor Jaha stood in front of my parents. _

_"Nera?" I turned and saw Bellamy._

_"Go back to your business. This doesn't concern you, Cadet Blake," Shumway said. _

_"It damn well does concern me," Bellamy argued. _

_"Cadet Blake-"_

_"Let him stay," Jaha sighed. _

_"Yes sir," Shumway nodded._

_"Sebastian and Rachael Clarkson, you have been found guilty of committing treason," Jaha began. "The penalty of which is death. You will enter the airlock chamber and be floated into space." I couldn't hold my tears back anymore and they cascaded down my face. "You may have a few minutes to say your goodbyes." Jaha stepped back and my parents turned to me._

_"Its okay sweetie," my mother said as she wrapped me in a hug. Her voice shook slightly, "I love you." I hugged her tightly. _

_"I love you too." She pulled away and smiled weakly at me. My father hugged me next._

_"Be brave, Nera, be strong. I love you," he whispered to me and let go of me._

_"I love you too dad," I sobbed. I looked at them both. "You can't leave me. You can't die."_

_"We all die, Nera," dad said. "At some point, you have to realise that some people can stay in your heart but not in your life." I noticed my mother was saying something to Bellamy but she was speaking too quietly for me to hear._

_"It's time," Jaha said._

_"No." A strangled cry escaped my mouth. My parents both walked into the airlock chamber. My mother was crying. My father kissed her one last time before Jaha pulled the lever and they were sucked out into space, holding each other. I sank down to my knees, hardly believing they were gone. They were the best and most loving parents anyone could ask for. Chancellor Jaha looked like he wanted to say something. But what was there to say? He, Shumway and the guards left. Bellamy knelt down next to me and pulled me into his arms. He hugged me tightly as I cried._

_"Don't leave me," I cried._

_"I won't. You've still got me and Octavia," he whispered, stroking my hair. "I'll never leave you."_

* * *

"You're okay," he says. "You're okay," he repeats. It sounds like he's trying to reassure himself more than me.

"My ankle hurts," I tell him. He glances at my ankle before he puts his arm around my waist and my arm goes around his neck. He helps me walk over to Clarke. She crouches down and looks at my ankle.

"You're ankle is sprained," she says and stands up. "It'll take a week to heal and you shouldn't walk on it for a few days." She looks at Finn and Murphy who are in the tree, cutting Jasper down. "Be careful." I hear a strange noise like a distant growling sound.

"What the hell was that?" Murphy asks.

"Grounders?" Bellamy wonders. The growling gets louder and then I see a black cat, kinda like a panther.

"Bellamy, gun," Clarke says as the creature slowly walks closer to us. Bellamy pushes me behind him protectively and tries to find his gun that I didn't know he had. I hear a gunshot and notice Wells holding the gun. He shoots the creature several times and makes one minor hit. The creature moves into the bushes around me and Bellamy. I try to find where it is but I can't see it. I hear another gunshot and I turn around. The creature is on the ground, dead.

"Now she sees you," Bellamy says to Wells who then looks at Clarke.

* * *

Bellamy had to carry me back to camp because of my ankle. When we get back to camp people stare at me and Bellamy. Octavia runs up to us.

"Nera! I'm so glad they found you. But, you look terrible. And why is my brother carrying you?"

"She sprained her ankle," Bellamy answers for me. He carries me into the drop ship and puts me down. "I've got a few things to take care of but I'll see you later," he says.

"Alright," I reply.

"One more thing, happy birthday," he smiles at me and I smile back. Then he leaves the ship. Clarke comes down the ladder and walks over to me.

"We don't have any bandages so I'm going to have to wrap your ankle up with a cloth," she tells me. "As I said earlier, you need to rest for a few days and you need to keep your ankle elevated." She wraps a cloth around my ankle and puts a box under my foot to keep it elevated. "I need to get back to Jasper, will you be okay here by yourself?"

"Yeah," I nod. "I'll be fine." She nods and goes back up the ladder.


	3. Earth Kills

~Nera's P.O.V~

It's been a few days since I returned to camp. I can walk on my ankle now but it's still fragile so I can't run on it for a while. Hearing Jasper groaning in pain is horrible since none of us can help him. The others are beginning to grow restless because of his constant groaning. I don't mind, I know he can't help it. It's worse because its night and the others are trying to sleep. But you can hear Jasper all over camp, falling asleep is near impossible. Clarke climbs down the ladder.

"Any improvements?" I ask. She shakes her head.

"None. I'm just going to get some water," she says and looks at me. "Actually, you should come too. You need to use your ankle every now and then to help it heal." I nod and stand up, with Clarke's help. We walk down the drop ship ramp and I don't feel any pain in my ankle. "Does it hurt?" Clarke asks.

"No," I reply.

"Okay, you can walk on it. But you can't run on it. I'll tell you when you should be able to run on it." A girl screams about twelve feet away from us. "I'll deal with this," Clarke says. "You get the water and take it to Jasper." She swiftly walks over to the girl. I go and get some water then take it into the drop ship. I carefully climb up the ladder and put the water next to Jasper. Finn and Monty are also up here. Finn is sat watching over Jasper while Clarke is gone and Monty is fiddling with one of the discarded wristbands. Neither of them say anything so I go back down the ladder.

* * *

Despite that it's another day, Jasper is still groaning and everyone is even more annoyed as the hours pass. Jasper suddenly screams in pain. I hurriedly climb up the ladder. Octavia climbs up after me.

"Stop it! You're killing him," Octavia yells at Clarke who is cutting away some of the flesh around Jasper's wound.

"She's trying to save his life," Finn says, looking at Octavia.

"She can't," Bellamy cuts in as he joins us. Wells stands up and looks at Bellamy.

"Back off."

"We didn't drag him through miles of woods just to let him die," Clarke speaks up.

"Kid's a goner. If you can't see that you're deluded," Bellamy retorts. I frown, looking at him. "He's making people crazy."

"Sorry if Jasper's an inconvenience to you, but this isn't the Ark. Down here every life matters."

"Take a look at him. He's a lost cause." Clarke ignores Bellamy and continues trying to bring Jasper's fever down. She glances at Octavia.

"Octavia, I've spent my whole life watching my mother heal people. If I say there's hope, there's hope."

"This isn't about hope. It's about guts," Bellamy says. "You don't have the guts to make the hard choices. I do. He's been like this for three days. If he's not better by tomorrow, I'll kill him myself." He walks over to the ladder. "Octavia, Nera, let's go."

"I'm staying here," Octavia responds. Bellamy sighs and leaves.

"Power-hungry, self-serving jackass," Monty grumbles. "He doesn't care about anyone but himself." He looks at me and Octavia, "no offence."

"Yeah, Bellamy's all that," Finn agrees. I look at the others.

"You're all wrong about him," I say. "I know him, he's not like that. Well, not entirely." Clarke and Finn look at me. "If it was me or Octavia in Jasper's position, he would do everything he could to make sure we would recover. He wouldn't kill us just to satisfy the others. I'm gonna go talk to him." I turn and climb down the ladder.

"Why did she defend him? Bellamy's being an ass," Wells says. I stop and listen.

"It's because she has feelings for him," Octavia responds. "I don't think she's admitted it to herself yet." I walk out of the drop ship and easily spot Bellamy. I walk over to him, Octavia's words running through my mind.

"You don't mean what you said earlier," I say. He looks at me.

"Everyone is sick of that kid's suffering. Ending his life would benefit everyone," he responds.

"You wouldn't be saying that if Octavia was in his place, or if I was."

"Nera-"

"There's still hope for Jasper," I interrupt. "Clarke can save him. As long as someone's heart beats I won't give up on them."

"He's a lost cause," Bellamy sighs.

"Listen to yourself. You immediately dismiss the fact that Jasper can be saved."

"He can't."  
"This isn't you, Bell. On the Ark you were kind, caring and actually really sweet. But here... here you're being a selfish, heartless idiot," I say and walk away from him. S_he has feelings for him_, Octavia's words are still in my mind. I have feelings for the real Bellamy. Not the jackass he's being down here. But I know it's just an act because he thinks that's how he will get the others to obey him.

* * *

Clarke walks into the drop ship and picks up her rucksack. She looks at me.

"I'm just going to get some seaweed to help Jasper," she says. "Finn and Wells are coming with me. Can you help keep an eye on Jasper while I'm gone?"

"Of course," I nod. "Monty and Octavia are with him at the moment."

"Okay, thanks." Clarke puts her rucksack on and leaves. I walk to the top of the ramp and lean against the drop ship doorway. I see Clarke, Wells and Finn leave. Bellamy had left with a hunting group earlier but he told Murphy to stay behind so unfortunately he's walking around camp. Currently, he's ordering people around as they build a wall. After me and Jasper returned, everyone started to build a wall around our camp. Someone drops something they were carrying. Murphy kicks them and yells at them.

"Hey! Stop it!" I walk down the ramp towards them. Murphy stops and looks at me. "He just dropped something, no need to punish him for it."

"The wall needs to be built," Murphy states.

"I know that but we don't need to kick people to get the wall built," I say. Murphy huffs in annoyance and walks off. I crouch down and help the guy pick up what he dropped.

"Thanks," he smiles a little and we both stand up.

"No problem," I reply and walk back to the drop ship. I go up the ladder to see Monty, Octavia and Jasper. I sit beside Jasper and put my hand on his forehead.

"He's burning up."

"He's got a fever and it's just been getting worse," Octavia sighs.

"We're running out of water," I state. "I'm gonna go get some more." I stand up and go back down the ladder. I walk out of the drop ship and fill a canteen with water we collected from a river. I look ahead into the trees and frown, seeing a strange yellow fog in the trees. My eyes widen as I realise it's moving towards us. Whatever that fog is, it cannot be good.

"Everyone get inside the drop ship!" I yell, "NOW!" I run behind others into the drop ship. When everyone is safely inside I pull the lever to shut the door. I hope Bellamy is okay.

* * *

It's been hours and the fog still hasn't shifted. I'm on the ground level of the ship, leaning against the ladder. People are trying to sleep but, as usual now, can't because of Jasper's groans.

"God, that kid is driving me nuts!" A girl complains, covering her ears with her hands.

"How do you think he feels? He's in pain," I retort and she glares at me.

"I can't take this much longer," someone else complains.

"Someone needs to shut that kid up," another person exclaims. Jasper continues to groan in pain. Monty, who is down here, looks at the hatch to the next floor.

"Right, that's it," Murphy says as he gets up from where he was laying. "I'm ending this."

"I heard Bellamy gave him till tomorrow," a girl says.

"Yeah, well, Bellamy isn't here, is he?" Murphy responds. "The kid's dying anyway. I'm just getting it over with." I send Monty a look and he nods, then races up the ladder. Murphy moves over to the ladder but I stand in his way.

"Leave Jasper alone," I glare at him.

"Get out of my way," he glares back.

"No. I won't let you kill Jasper."

"Fine," Murphy growls. Then something impacts the side of my face, knocking me to the ground. Murphy must have punched me.

"Monty, shut the hatch!" I shout and hear the hatch shut. Murphy climbs up the ladder and bangs on the hatch. I sit up and lightly touch my cheek and wince in pain.

"Let me in!" Murphy yells, the frustration clear in his voice. "Open up, Monty!"

* * *

Night has fallen and everyone has gone back to what they were doing before the fog came. Jasper is still alive, luckily.

"Hey, everyone, they're back!" I hear someone yell. I walk out of the drop ship and walk straight to Bellamy. He's pulling something behind him.

"I better go get this grave dug," Wells says quietly to Bellamy.

"Grave? Who died?" I ask.

"Atom," Bellamy answered. He looks at me and frowns. He takes a step closer to me and holds my face gently, looking at my cheek. I guess he sees the bruise from when Murphy punched me. "What happened? Who did this to you?"

"Murphy," I reply. Anger flashes in his eyes but it disappears as Octavia walks over.

"Octavia, just stay there," he says but Octavia keeps walking. "Please, stay back." He holds his arm out to stop her from approaching Atom's body.

"Why?" Octavia questions and tries to move his arm, "Bell, stop." She pushes his arm away and walks to Atom. She crouches down beside him and removes the jacket from Atom's face. "Atom..."

"There's nothing I could do," Bellamy says.

"Don't," Octavia snaps, holding her hand up to silence him. Tears shine in her eyes as she covers Atom's face up again. She stands up and walks away.

"O... O... Please," Bellamy tries to talk to her.

"Don't," Octavia repeats and walks off.

"Just give her some time to grieve," I say softly to Bellamy. He nods and I walk back to the drop ship.

* * *

~Bellamy's P.O.V~

I watch Nera walk into the drop ship. I need to tell her how I feel about her, soon. Murphy walks up to me and I feel a wave of anger wash over me because he hurt Nera.

"Lose anyone here?" I ask, trying to keep my voice steady.

"None," Murphy replies.

"Jasper?" I question.  
"Still breathing, barely," he says. "I tried to take him out but your psycho little sister-" That's it. First, he hurts Nera and then he calls Octavia a psycho. I shove him and grab his collar.

"Bellamy-"

"My what?! My what?!" I yell.

"Your little sister," Murphy states. I let him go.

"Yeah, that's right. My little sister. Got anything else you wanna say about her?"

"Nothing," Murphy says nonchalantly. "Sorry." I punch him.

"And leave Nera alone. Or you'll regret it." I look at Atom's body. "Get him out of here," I say and someone takes his body away.

* * *

~Nera's P.O.V~

I walk over to Wells who is digging Atom a grave.

"Wells?" He looks at me. "I need to ask you something."

"Yeah? What is it?"

"That day, when I was confined, did Jack go to you to tell you what I was doing?" I ask.

"No," Wells admits. "I saw Jack behaving suspiciously. He was muttering something about breaking the law. I forced him to tell me. When he did say what you were doing... that was the same time Commander Shumway was walking past. He heard Jack and ordered your arrest." There's silence between us for a while.

"So it wasn't Jack's fault?" My voice breaks as tears cloud my eyes.

"No, it was my fault," Wells sighs.

"You got my parents killed. And you got me confined too," I state.

"I'm sorry, Nera. I'm so sor-"

"How did you know my parents knew about the Ark's problem?" I question.

"Clarke's father, Jake, he knew your parents were aware of the problem. He told Clarke and Clarke told me. I couldn't keep it from my father. I let that information slip out of my mouth one day."

"Thank you. I needed the truth," I say and walk away, holding back tears. I go back to the drop ship and climb up the ladder to the second level. I sit down in the corner and burst into tears. Octavia rushes over to me.

"Hey, hey, shh," she pulls me into a hug. "What's wrong, Nera?"

"W-Wells got my p-parents killed and- and got me c-confined," I cried.  
"I thought that was Jack." I shake my head.  
"It was Wells's fault," I sob. Finn holds a bottle of something, probably alcohol, out to me. I take it from him and take a big sip. I cough a little. Its whiskey, I have no idea where he found it. "Thanks."

"Can I, uh, get a hit of that?" Jasper's voice grabs our attention.

"Jasper!" We all stand up and go over to him. "Let's start with the soft stuff," Finn says and gives Jasper some water. "Welcome back, buddy."

"Was that a dream or, did I get speared?" Jasper asks.

"You'll have a very impressive scar to prove it," Clarke says, joining us.

"My saviour," Jasper smiles at her.

"Thank you, for not dying. I don't think I could've taken that today," she says.

"Well, I'll try not to die tomorrow, too, if that's cool," Jasper responds. Octavia laughs at him and Jasper notices her, "oh, hello." We all smile and laugh at him. Even through my tears I laugh as well.


	4. Murphy's Law

~Nera's P.O.V~

I walk out of the drop ship and sit on one of the crates from the drop ship. I look up at the night sky and see a bright spot that is probably the Ark, not a star. I hear someone walk over to me.

"Hey," Bellamy sits beside me.

"Hey," I tear my gaze away from the sky and look at him.

"You okay?" He asks.

"Yeah, I'm just... worried about the grounders."

"That's why we're building the wall, to keep everyone safe," he says and looks at me. "No one will hurt you here."

"Murphy did," I point out.

"I dealt with Murphy," he responds, looking around the camp. He looks at me. "You're safe here, okay?"

"Okay." I look down at my feet. "I just don't wanna lose anyone." He lifts my face up so I'm looking at him.

"You're not gonna lose anyone." A glowing blue butterfly flies between us and lands on my shoulder. I look at it, trying not to scare it off. "Wow that's beautiful," Bellamy looks at it. "Mutation isn't always horrible."

"It's extraordinary," I smile and it flies off my shoulder.

"Exactly like you," he says quietly. I look at him, looking into his brown eyes that hold so much emotion. Suddenly his lips are on mine. I kiss him back, wrapping my arms around his neck and he wraps his arms around my waist. He pulls away and rests his forehead against mine. "You're the reason why I came to Earth. Plus Octavia, I love you two too much." When he says that, I realise that I really do love him. I smile brightly.

"I love you too," I say. He smiles and kisses me again.

"I'm so glad you said that."

* * *

Early next morning I walk outside the wall to tell Wells his shift is over. I see a body and I stop walking. I gasp and cover my mouth with my hand. It's Wells. I walk back into camp and almost bump into Clarke.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," she says and looks at me. "Are you okay?" I shake my head.

"There's something you need to see," I turn and walk back out of camp. I can hear Clarke following behind me. "I'm sorry you have to see him like this." I stop in front of Wells's corpse. Clarke gasps and kneels down beside his body.

"Oh my god, Wells..."

"I'm so sorry, Clarke. I found him like this. It must have been the grounders."

"Can you help me carry his body to the other graves? I want to dig him a grave."

"Uh, sure," I pick up his feet and Clarke picks him up by his shoulders. We carry him to the other graves and put him down.

"You should go tell the others," Clarke says. "Bellamy and Finn need to know."

"Alright, are you sure you'll be okay here by yourself?" I ask.  
"Yeah, I need to do this alone," she replies. I nod and walk back into camp.

* * *

I see Monty and walk over to him.

"Hey, have you seen either Finn or Bellamy?" I ask. He looks at me.

"Finn went outside camp a while ago and Bellamy is over by the drop ship," he tells me.

"Oh okay, thanks." I walk over to Bellamy. "Hey, um, I need to talk to you." He turns to me.

"What is it?"

"Wells is dead," I say quietly. Bellamy is quiet for a moment.

"Who else knows?" He asks.

"Clarke," I answer. "I think Wells was killed by a grounder." Bellamy looks around.

"Alright, everyone listen up!" He shouts. "During the night, one of our own was killed outside the camp, Wells Jaha." A few obnoxious people cheer.

"Hey! Have a little respect for the dead!" I yell.

"He was killed by a grounder," Bellamy continues. "So we need to finish building the wall as soon as possible so that we can be safe!"

* * *

Later on, I'm helping a young girl named Charlotte build some of the wall. I can't believe she was sent down here, she's too young. A guy whose name I think is Connor drops one end of a tree log he was carrying with someone else.

"Hey!" Murphy walks over. "You think the grounders are just gonna sit around and wait for us to finish the wall? Maybe we should let the little girl do the lifting for you, huh?" Murphy gestures to Charlotte.

"I just need some water, okay?" Connor says. "Then I'll be fine." Bellamy walks over.

"Murphy, get this guy some water." He looks at Charlotte, "hey, you got this?" He gestures to the log. Charlotte bends down to pick it up. "I'm just kidding." He smiles at her and picks up the log. He winks at me and I smile. He carries the log away and Charlotte and I get back to work.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Murphy?!" Connor shouts. I look at him and Murphy.

"You wanted a water break," Murphy shrugs. "Get back to work!" I look at Charlotte.

"Just ignore Murphy. He's an ass," I state and she smiles.

* * *

I stand in the main tent of camp, we built some tents a few days ago. Two of Wells's severed fingers are on the crate in the middle of the tent along with a knife. Octavia and Jasper were outside the camp walls when they found Wells's fingers and the knife. Bellamy, Clarke, Octavia and Jasper are in here too. Clarke picks up the knife and looks closely at it.

"This knife was made of metal from the drop ship," Clarke says.

"What do you mean?" Jasper looks at her.

"Who else knows about this?" Bellamy asks.

"No one," Octavia shakes her head. "We brought it straight here." She looks at him.

"Clarke?" Jasper is still looking at Clarke.

"It means the grounders didn't kill Wells," Clarke looks at us. "It was one of us."

"So there's a murderer in the camp?" Jasper looks at Wells's fingers.

"There's more than one murderer in this camp," Bellamy says. "This isn't news. We need to keep it quiet." Clarke walks to the entrance of the tent, keeping the knife in her hand. Bellamy blocks her path.

"Get out of my way, Bellamy."

"Clarke, be smart about this. Look at what we've achieved... the wall, the patrols. Like it or not, thinking the grounders killed Wells is good for us."

"Oh good for you, you mean," Clarke looks at him. "What? Keep people afraid and they'll work for you? Is that it?"

"Yeah, that's it. But it's good for all of us. Fear of the grounders is building that wall. Besides, what are you gonna do? Just walk out there and ask the killer to step forward? You don't even know whose knife that is."

"Oh really?" Clarke raises her eyebrows and holds up the knife. "JM, John Murphy. The people have a right to know." She pushes past Bellamy.

"Wait, Clarke! You don't even know how they'll react!" I call after her as she storms out the tent. "This isn't gonna end well," I sigh and walk out of the tent, the others most likely following. Clarke pushes Murphy.

"You son of a bitch!"

"What's your problem?" Murphy looks at her.  
"Recognize this?" Clarke holds up the knife.

"That's my knife. Where'd you find it?" Murphy reaches for his knife but Clarke steps back.

"Where you dropped it after you killed Wells," she openly accuses.

"Where I what?" Murphy steps towards Clarke and looks around. "The grounders killed Wells, not me."

"I know what you did. And you're gonna pay for it."

"Really?" Murphy looks at Bellamy who is standing beside me. "Bellamy, you really believe this crap?" Bellamy doesn't respond.

"You threatened to kill him," Clarke states. "We all heard you. You hated Wells."

"Plenty of people hated Wells." Murphy raises his voice, "his father was the Chancellor that locked us up."

"Yeah, but you're the only one who got in a knife fight with him," Clarke retorts.

"Yeah, I didn't kill him then either."

"Tried to kill Jasper, too," Octavia speaks up. "And he punched Nera."

"What?" Jasper asks quietly.

"Come on, this is ridiculous." Murphy steps back. "I don't have to answer to you. I don't have to answer to anyone."

"Come again?" Bellamy looks at Murphy.

"Bellamy," Murphy walks up to him. "Look, I'm telling you man, I didn't do this."

"They found his fingers on the ground with your knife," Bellamy says.

"Is this the kind of society that we want?" Clarke asks, addressing everyone. "You say there should be no rules. Does that mean we can kill each other without... without punishment?"

"I already told you, I didn't kill anyone," Murphy walks back to Clarke.

"I say we float him," Connor speaks up. People shout in agreement. Clarke turns to Connor.

"That's not what I'm saying." What exactly did she have in mind as a punishment for killing Wells? I bet she doesn't even have a punishment in mind for murder.

"Why not? He deserves to float, its justice," Connor responds.

"Revenge isn't justice," Clarke disagrees.

"Its justice! Float him! Float him!" Others join in with Connor, chanting 'float him' over and over. Murphy tries to run but someone trips him up and people begin kicking him.

"No! Get off him!" Clarke yells, trying to stop them, but it's useless. There's no stopping the crowd, there's too many of them. Octavia tries to get involved but Bellamy grabs her arm. They tie a seatbelt from the drop ship around Murphy's mouth so he can't talk. They also tie his hands together behind his back.

"Let him go!" Clarke is still trying to stop them but she keeps being pushed back. People haul him up and drag him away. I follow everyone.

"You can't do this!" Clarke yells. They stand Murphy on a box and put a noose around his neck. I don't agree with this but there is nothing I can do to stop it. Clarke runs up to Bellamy and pushes him.

"You can stop this!" She yells. "They'll listen to you."

"Bellamy, you should do it," Connor says and gets everyone to start chanting 'Bellamy'.

"I saw you in the woods with Atom, I know you're not a killer," Clarke tries desperately. "Bellamy, don't do this. Don't do this." Bellamy walks over to Murphy. "Don't! You can't do this, Bellamy! No!" Clarke yells at him and Bellamy kicks the box out from under Murphy. I turn my back on Murphy, not wanting to watch him die.

"What the hell are you doing? Cut him down!" Finn shouts and makes his way through the crowd. Where the hell has he been? He sees Charlotte. "Charlotte, get out of here, now!" Octavia tries to pull Charlotte away.

"Stop! Okay?" Charlotte yells and Octavia lets go of her. "Murphy didn't kill Wells!" Everyone goes silent and looks at her. "I did!" She admits.

"Oh my god," Clarke gets an axe and cuts Murphy down. I look at Charlotte.

"Come on, you shouldn't stay here," I say to her and lead her to the main tent.

* * *

"Bring out the girl, Bellamy!" Murphy shouts from outside. Shortly after I brought Charlotte into the tent, Bellamy, Clarke and Finn came into the tent.

"Why, Charlotte?" I ask her.

"I was just trying to slay my demons," she looks at Bellamy, "like you told me."

"What the hell is she talking about?" Clarke demands.

"She misunderstood me," Bellamy defends. He turns to Charlotte, "Charlotte that is not what I meant."

"Bring the girl out, now!" Murphy yells impatiently.

"Please don't let them hurt me!" Charlotte pleads.

"We can't hand her over to them," I say. "If any of you have any bright ideas, speak up." Clarke and Finn don't say anything.

"Now you stay quiet!" Bellamy looks at them.

"Those are your boys out there," Finn replies.

"This is not my fault," Bellamy says and looks at Clarke. "If she had listened to me, those idiots would still be building the wall!"

"You wanna build a society, princess?" Murphy calls. "Let's build a society. Bring her out!"

"No! Please, Bellamy," Charlotte says. Bellamy crouches down so he's at the same level as Charlotte.

"Look, hey, it's gonna be okay," he says. "Just, stay with them." He looks at Finn and Clarke.

"You'll be okay, Charlotte," I walk out of the tent with Bellamy.

* * *

"Well, well, look who decided to join us," Murphy walks up to us.

"Dial it down and back off," Bellamy says.

"Or what? What are you gonna do, Bellamy, hang me?" Murphy challenges.

"I was just giving the people what they wanted," Bellamy replies.

"Yeah. Yeah, that's a good idea. Why don't we do that right now?" Murphy turns and walks towards the crowd. "So who wants to see the real murderer hung up? All in favour?" To my disgust, some people actually put their hands up. "I see. So it's okay to string me up for nothing. But when this little bitch confesses, you want to let her walk!" He points to the tent. "Cowards! All of you are cowards!"

"This is not cowardice!" I yell, walking up to Murphy. I look at the crowd. "We _are not_ monsters! That little girl is no more than thirteen years old! It is not right to hang someone of that age!" Bellamy walks up to me and Murphy.

"Nera's right. It's over, Murphy."

"Whatever you say, boss," Murphy gives up.

"Come on, Nera," Bellamy turns and puts a hand on the small of my back as he guides me away from the others. I hear a horrible sound as Bellamy is hit and knocked unconscious by Murphy. Murphy uses most of his body weight to push me over and he runs out of camp with a group of guys before I can stop them.

* * *

"Charlotte's over there," I whisper to Bellamy. Shortly after Bellamy woke up we went into the forest to find Charlotte, Finn and Clarke before Murphy found them. It's grown dark now and it's difficult to see as we don't have any torches. Bellamy nods and we run over to Charlotte. My ankle's better so now I can run on it. Bellamy picks her up and covers her mouth to muffle her scream.

"It's okay. Shh! It's just us, Nera and Bellamy," I say. I see the torches from Murphy's group. "We need to keep moving." We run through the trees and Bellamy doesn't let go of Charlotte's arm.

"Let me go!" She exclaims.

"We're trying... Hey, hey," Bellamy looks at her and she stops struggling. "We're trying to help you."

"I'm not your sister! Just stop helping me!" Charlotte runs away from us. "I'm over here!" Bellamy grabs her arm and brings her out of clear sight.

"Are you trying to get the three of us killed?"

"Just go! Okay? I'm the one they want," she says.

"Okay, Charlotte, listen to me," Bellamy looks at her. "We. Won't. Leave you."

"Please, Bellamy," Charlotte tries. She looks at me. "Please Nera, just let me go." Bellamy picks her up and runs away from Murphy's group. I follow behind. "Murphy!" Charlotte yells.

"Come on out, Charlotte!" Murphy shouts. We keep running until we come to a cliff. I look behind us and see the torches of Murphy's group.

"They're too close," I state. "We've nowhere left to run." Bellamy puts Charlotte down.

"Damn it!"

"Bellamy!" Murphy comes to the edge of the tree line. "You two cannot fight all of us. Give her up."

"Maybe not, but I can guarantee I'll take a few of you with me."

"Bellamy, stop!" Clarke yells, also coming to the cliff, along with Finn. She looks at Murphy. "This has gone too far. Just calm down. We'll talk about this." Murphy swiftly drops his torch, grabs Clarke, and holds a knife to her throat.

"I am sick of listening to you talk," he says.

"Let her go!" Finn steps forward.

"I will slit her throat," Murphy warns Finn.

"No please! Please, don't hurt her!" Charlotte speaks up. Bellamy puts his arm in front of her to stop her from going forward.

"Don't hurt her?" Murphy looks at Charlotte. "Okay, I'll make you a deal. You come with me right now, I will let her go."

"Don't do it, Charlotte," Clarke says. Charlotte tries to move forwards but Bellamy and I stop her. "Don't do it."

"No! No, I have to!" Charlotte screams. She stops struggling and Bellamy turns to Murphy.

"Murphy, this is not happening."

"I can't let any of you get hurt anymore," Charlotte says. "Not because of me. Not after what I did."

"Charlotte!" I yell as she throws herself over the edge of the cliff. I kneel at the edge, staring down into the abyss.

"No!" Bellamy shouts, kneeling down next to me.

"No, no, no!" I cry. Clarke kneels on my other side. Bellamy looks at Murphy and lunges at him. I turn away from the cliff, not being able to look there, and stand up. Bellamy punches Murphy multiple times.

"Bellamy, stop! You'll kill him!" Clarke shouts. Finn pulls Bellamy off Murphy.

"Get off me!" Bellamy yells angrily. "He deserves to die!"

"No! We don't decide who lives and dies. Not down here," Clarke reasons.

"So help me god, if you say the people have a right to decide, I will-"

"No, I was wrong before, okay? You were right. Sometimes it's dangerous to tell people the truth. But if we're gonna survive down here, we can't just live by whatever the hell we want. We need rules."

"And who makes those rules, huh? You?" Bellamy questions.

"For now, we make the rules, okay?"

"So, what then?" He gestures to Murphy. "We just take him back and pretend like it never happened?"

"No!" Clarke looks at Murphy and then turns back to Bellamy. "We banish him."

"Get up," Bellamy roughly pulls Murphy up and drags him to the cliff.

"Bellamy, stop!" Clarke yells for the third time this night.

"If I ever catch you near camp, we'll be back here. Understand?" Bellamy throws Murphy to the ground and looks at Murphy's group. "As for the four of you, you can come back and follow me, or go off with him to die. Your choice." He looks at me and his eyes soften. He puts his arm around me and kisses my hair. "Come on, Nera. Let's go back to camp." He keeps his arm around me as we walk back to camp. The others are not far behind us.

* * *

When we get back, Clarke tells the people at camp about Murphy's banishment. A little while later, I feel a sharp pain where my wristband is, causing me to hiss in pain. Bellamy looks around, noticing others experiencing the same pain from their wristbands. I see Finn and Clarke walk out of the drop ship. I look at Clarke.

"What happened?" I ask.

"Monty accidentally fried all the wristbands," she answers before following Finn.

"Nera, there's something I need to tell you," Bellamy says and takes me to his tent. "I did a terrible thing to be down here with you and Octavia," he sighs.

"Really? What did you do?" I ask gently.

"I shot Chancellor Jaha," he replies quietly, not looking at me.

"Oh Bellamy," I sigh. "They'll kill you when they come down." He nods and I hold his hand, lacing our fingers together. "That was a huge risk you took. Did you really want to be here that much?"

"I always promised my mother I would look after Octavia. And I always promised myself I'd look after you. Also, just before your mother was floated she said to me '_you're all she has left now. Look after her, make sure she's never alone_." I hug him and he hugs me back. "I thought you would've been disgusted by me."

"Well I'm not disgusted by you," I say, "because I understand why you did it and this camp is full of killers anyway." I look at him, "when they do come down... I don't want them to kill you."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure they don't kill me, for yours and my sister's safety." He kisses me softly and I melt into his arms.


	5. Twilight's Last Gleaming

~Nera's P.O.V~

I wake up in Bellamy's arms and smile. He's looking at me and playing with my hair. Nothing happened last night. I had a nightmare about Charlotte and Bellamy held me until I fell asleep.

"You're so beautiful," he says.

"And you're so handsome," I reply. He smiles and kisses me.

"Bellamy, Nera, get out here!" Octavia shouts from outside, ruining the moment. We pull away and get up. I put my jacket on and Bellamy puts his jacket on before we leave the tent. Octavia sees us.

"There," she points at something in the sky. It looks like a small ship that could be from the Ark.

"They're coming to help us," a guy guesses. "Now we can kick some grounder ass."

"Please tell me they brought down some shampoo," a girl, whose name I think is Roma, says. I roll my eyes at her, shampoo is not an important item we need down here.

"We need to find it. It could have nutrition packs and medical supplies in it," I say. "We need to look at the map and try and guess where it landed." Clarke had a map the first day we came down here but now it stayed in the main tent, not that anyone ever used it. Bellamy nods and we go into the main tent, some other guys following. I look at the map.

"If it cleared the ridge, it's probably near the lake," I look at Bellamy as Octavia comes in.

"We should get moving. Everyone's ready," she tells us.

"No one's going anywhere. Not while it's dark, it isn't safe," Bellamy says. "We'll head out at first light. Pass the word." He looks at the other guys and they leave. Bellamy and I start to leave but Octavia blocks us.

"Everyone for 100 miles saw this thing come down," she says. "What if the grounders get to it first?" Neither of us reply. She looks at Bellamy. "Bell we should go now."

"I said we wait until sunrise," Bellamy replies sternly and we leave the tent. I sigh softly, they used to get on really well.

* * *

_I laughed watching Octavia chase Bellamy around the room because he took her toy bunny that their mother made for Octavia. Octavia had named the bunny Mr. Snuggles and I thought that was cute. _

_"Bellamy! Give him back!" Octavia laughed._

_"He wanted to go on an adventure," Bellamy said, smiling. _

_"Nera help! He took Mr. Snuggles," Octavia pleaded and looked at me. I nodded and joined Octavia in chasing Bellamy. He stopped running and held the bunny up above his head. Octavia and I jumped, trying to get the bunny back but it was no use. Bellamy was too tall. _

_"It's not fair! You're too tall!" Octavia whined and Bellamy laughed. _

_"Okay, here you go," Bellamy crouched down to Octavia's level and gave Mr. Snuggles back to her. "He had a great adventure," Bellamy said to her. Octavia smiled and hugged her brother._

* * *

Bellamy walks over to the weapons and hands me a knife.

"We're going to find that thing that came down, aren't we?" I guess.

"If it has a radio then we have to get rid of it," he says. "If they come down they'll kill me and lock you and Octavia up. I can't let that happen." We walk out of camp, trying not to attract too much attention, and continue towards where I guessed it landed.

"Hey! What are you two doing?" Octavia follows us. I stop walking and look at her, so does Bellamy.

"Get back to camp, it isn't safe," he says.

"You lied to everyone, you lied to me. You just want whatever's in that pod."

"Just go home," he pushes her backwards.

"You always wanna play the big brother, huh? Well guess what? Joke's on me, you're just a selfish dick." She glances at me before looking back at her brother.

"I did this for you, to protect you. The Ark find out we're alive, they'll come down. And when they do, I'm dead."

"What did you do?"

"I shot him. I shot Jaha."

"What?

"I found out they were sending you and Nera to Earth. I couldn't let you both go alone. Someone came to me with a deal. Do this, kill him and they'll get me on the drop ship. And I did it."

"You killed the chancellor?"

"He floated our mother and Nera's parents. He locked both of you up. He deserved it."

"I didn't ask you to do that."

"You're right. I made the choice, this is on me. Whatever they sent down, I'll take care of it."

"I didn't ask for any of this," Octavia walks away from us.

"Come on, let's go," Bellamy starts walking again.

* * *

We reach the pod and Bellamy opens the door.

"There's someone in here," he tells me. I look inside and see a girl there in a space suit.

"It looks like she's unconscious," I say. Bellamy uses a knife to cut the radio out of the ship. I shut the door and we walk away from the ship.

"Isn't there a lake nearby?" Bellamy asks.

"Yeah, it's over here," I reply and start walking towards the lake. We get to the lake and Bellamy throws the radio into the water.

"There. It's gone now," he says. "We should get back to camp." I nod in agreement and we begin to walk back.

* * *

"Hey!" I turn and see Clarke jogging behind us. I ignore her and continue walking. "Where is it?" She demands and we stop walking.

"Hey, you taking a walk in the woods?" Bellamy looks at her.

"They're getting ready to kill 300 people up there. To save oxygen," she tells us. I didn't know they were gonna start reducing population. "And I can guarantee you it won't be council members. It'll be working people, your people."

"Nera, Bellamy," Finn joins us and pushes Bellamy. "Where's the radio?"

"We have no idea what you're talking about," Bellamy pushes Finn.

"Bellamy Blake?" A girl says, also joining us. "They're looking everywhere for you."

"Shut up," Bellamy snaps.

"Looking for him why?" Clarke enquires.

"He shot Chancellor Jaha," the girl answers.

"That's why you took the wristbands," Clarke concludes. "Needed everyone to think we're dead."

"And all that 'whatever the hell we want'," Finn speaks. "You just care about saving your own skin." Bellamy sighs and takes my hand and starts walking back to camp.

"Hey! Shooter! Where's my radio?" The girl demands, standing in front of us.

"Get out of my way," Bellamy responds.

"Where is it?" The girl persists.

"I should have killed you when I had the chance," Bellamy says.

"Really? Well I'm right here," she challenges. Bellamy let's go of my hand and pins her against a tree, his hands around her neck. She takes out a knife and points it at him. I take a step closer to them.

"Where's my radio?" The girl asks again.

"Stop it," I say. Bellamy let's her go and takes my hand again, starting to walk back to camp.

"Jaha deserved to die, you all know that," he says.

"Yeah, he's not my favourite person either," the girl responds. "But he isn't dead." We stop walking and look at her.

"What?"

"You're a lousy shot," she states.

"Bellamy, don't you see what this means?" I speak, looking at him. He looks at me. "You're not a murderer. You just wanted to protect me and Octavia, that's who you are."

"And you can do it again," Clarke says, "by protecting 300 of your people. Where's the radio?"

"It's too late," Bellamy tells her.

* * *

We went back to camp and got some people to come with us to the lake so we could find the radio quickly. I step into the water at the edge of the lake where it's shallow and search for the radio. I nearly trip over something. I crouch down and pick it up, it's the radio.

"Hey! I found it!" I yell. The others run over to me.

"Give me that," Raven snaps, snatching the radio out of my hands. I found out her name was Raven earlier. I scowl at her; she's made it clear that she doesn't like me. Bellamy stands next to me and puts his arm around my waist.

"Can you fix it?" Clarke asks.

"Maybe," Raven answers. "It'll take half a day just to dry out the components and see what's broken."

"Like I said, it's too late," Bellamy says.

"Do you have any idea what you did?" Clarke questions, looking at him. "Do you even care?!"

"You asked me to help. I helped."

"Three hundred people are gonna die today because of you," Clarke exclaims.

"Hold up," Raven speaks up. Clarke looks at her. "We don't have to talk to the Ark. We just have to let them know we're down here, right?"

"Yeah but, how do we do that with no radio?" Finn asks. Raven smiled in response.

* * *

Raven came up with a plan that we could make flares and set them off in the hopes of the Ark seeing them. Raven says we can make the flares out of parts from the ship she came here in and from some parts of the drop ship. We walk back to the ship Raven came to Earth in. I look at Raven.

"Tell me what I can do to help," I say. Raven narrows her eyes at me.

"Nothing. Just don't break anything," she says snidely. I sigh and walk away from her. Someone walks up to me and holds my hand, it's Bellamy.

"Ignore Raven, she doesn't know you like I do." He kisses me softly. "Come on, let's go back to camp." I nod and we walk back to camp.

* * *

Bellamy leads me into his tent and kisses me, wrapping his arms around my waist. I smile in the kiss and put my arms around his neck. He licks my bottom lip, asking for entrance. I grant him access and our tongues battle for dominance. He wins. I pull away.

"Shouldn't we, kind of, be helping the others?" I ask.

"Yeah," Bellamy nods. "But I don't want to."

"Me neither." He kisses me again, lustfully. He takes off my jacket and my top, and then starts kissing my neck.

* * *

Afterwards, we lie together under the blankets. I look at him and smile.

"That was amazing." I kiss him sweetly. "I love you."

"I love you too," he smiles.

"The flares are ready," someone yells outside. We get up and put our clothes back on and then go outside to watch the flares. We stand near the front of the crowd and the three flares are lit. The flares launch into the night sky and light it up in pink and purple shades. Bellamy holds me close as we watch the flares.

"Do you think they can see it from up there?" Bellamy asks quietly.

"I don't know. I hope so," I reply. "I really do hope so."


	6. His Sister's Keeper

~ Bellamy's P.O.V ~

"Octavia," I call out. I've searched the whole camp for her but she isn't here. Nera's looking for her as well. If someone's taken or wounded Octavia then I don't know what I'll do. I can't believe she's missing. She's my sister, my responsibility.

"I can't find her anywhere," Nera sighs, walking up to me. Clarke steps out of her tent that we are stood next to.

"Can't find who anywhere?" She asks.

"How come you're not asleep?" Nera enquires.

"Knowing hundreds of people may be dying on the Ark makes it pretty hard to sleep," Clarke answers.

"Raven's flares will work," I say.

"A radio would've worked better," she replies.

"Have you seen Octavia?" I ask.

"No, not since yesterday," Clarke responds. "I'll help you find her. Okay, let's check again. You go to the drop ship, Nera and I can check the rest of the tents. But I'm only doing this for Octavia." I nod and walk to the drop ship.

* * *

_I returned home after work. I hated working as a janitor. I sighed and looked around, it was so quiet and empty without my mother and Octavia. I missed them so much. I missed Nera as well. Someone knocked on the door and I opened it to see Lieutenant Shumway stood there. _

_"Cadet Blake," he greeted. _

_"It's Janitor Blake now, Lieutenant," I replied. _

_"Commander," he corrected. He glanced back down the corridor. "A lot's changed in the past year. May I?" He walked inside and shut the door behind him._

_"You've got some nerve coming in here after you pushed the button that floated my mother," I said coldly. _

_"I was following orders," he responded._

_"What the hell do you want from me?"_

_"You were a hell of a guardsman, Bellamy, you know that? Smart, hard-working, resourceful-"_

_"I wasn't a guardsman," I cut him off. "That's what you said, I remember."_

_"You also said you'd do anything to protect your sister, I remember too. I hope that's still true."_

_"Is she okay?" I asked. _

_"What I'm about to tell you is classified," he pauses. "Chancellor Jaha has approved the mission to Earth. He's sending the juvenile prisoners to the ground, 100 of them. Your sister and that girl you care about so much included." What? I looked down at the floor. Octavia and Nera were being sent to the ground? I'd never be able to see them again. _

_"N-no, you can't. It's not safe, you have to stop them."_

_"I wish I could. What I can do is get you a seat on that drop ship." I look at him. "You're right. It's doubtful those kids will survive but if you're there, at least Octavia and the other girl-"_

_"Nera," I corrected him. _

_"Right, at least Octavia and Nera won't be alone."_

_"What do I have to do?" I asked. Shumway held a gun out to me._

_"Kill the Chancellor," he stated. I took the gun from him and looked at it. I looked at him and got an idea. I pointed the gun at him._

_"How about I kill you instead?"_

_"Kill me and your sister and Nera go alone to a radiation soaked planet and you get floated like your mother." I said nothing. Shumway glanced at the door. _

_"Ship launches in 20 minutes, Bellamy. If we're gonna do this we have to leave. Right now." _

* * *

I searched the drop ship and Octavia wasn't there. Nera and Clarke didn't find any sign of her around camp.

"Hey everybody, gather around and grab a weapon." I put a bunch of weapons on the ground. "My sister's been out there alone for twelve hours. Arm up, we're not coming back without her." People pick up whatever weapon they choose to use. Nera has her knife in her hand. I would tell her to stay here but I know she wouldn't. Octavia's her best friend.

"Hey Jasper, you don't have to do this," Clarke says to Jasper as he picks up a weapon. "You haven't left camp since we brought you back."

"Clarke, I need to do this," Jasper responds.

"We need all the people we can get," I cut in. "We need a tracker," I say and remember Finn is a tracker. He helped find Nera and Jasper when they were taken. "Finn, get out here!"

* * *

~ Nera's P.O.V ~

"Finn, we're leaving!" Bellamy yells as we're almost ready to leave camp.

"Alright, I'm coming!" Finn replies from his tent. I look at Jasper.  
"You sure you're okay to do this?" I ask him.

"Yeah, I can do this," he nods.

"Guys, guys! Come here!" Someone yells. "What is that? It's so bright."

"Did you see that? Look up there!" Someone else says. I look up into the sky and see what looks like a small meteor shower.

"They didn't work," Raven says. "They didn't see the flares."

"A meteor shower tells you that?" Bellamy looks at her.

"It's not a meteor shower, it's a funeral," Clarke replies. "Hundreds of bodies being returned to the Earth from the Ark. This is what it looks like from the other side." Knowing that he must be feeling bad, I walk over to Bellamy.

"This is all because of you!" Raven yells at us and walks towards us. Clarke and Finn pull her back.

"I helped you find the radio," Bellamy says.

"Yeah, after you jacked it from my pod and trashed it," she retorts.

"Yeah, he knows," Clarke cuts in. "Now he has to live with it."

"All I know is that my sister is out there and I'm gonna find her," Bellamy responds. "You coming or what?" None of them say anything. Bellamy looks around. "Then what're we waiting for? Move out!" Everyone begins to walk out of camp. I walk with Bellamy.

"If I hadn't thrown the radio in the lake, those people might still be alive," he sighs.

"It was a mistake," I say. "Sometimes good people make bad choices, it doesn't mean you're bad. It means you are human. It's just unfortunate that this mistake cost hundreds of lives. But we'll find another way to contact the Ark and save even more lives."

* * *

We split up and search for any signs of Octavia. But we stay within sight of each other, it's too dangerous to wander off on your own.

"Look! Over here!" A guy yells. I walk to where he is by a steep downward slope.

"What is it?" Bellamy asks.

"Right there, you see it? Is that Octavia's?" The guy questions. I look down and see a blue patch of material, the same colour as Octavia's clothes.

"Rope," Bellamy says and someone hands him a rope. Bellamy ties one end of it to a tree.

"What're you doing?" Finn enquires.

"We need the rope to get back up," Bellamy answers. "Flashlight," someone hands him a flashlight and he puts it in his pocket before he makes his way down the slope. I go down the slope after him. He picks up the material that was stuck on a branch.

"It's hers," Bellamy confirms and looks at me. He looks up at the others, "we're going all the way down." A flash of red catches my eye and I crouch down. "What is it?" Bellamy asks.

"I can't tell. I need a flashlight," I reply. Bellamy crouches down beside me and turns the flashlight on. Now I can see what the flash of red was. It was blood, possibly Octavia's. If it is, I hope she's not too badly wounded. I touch the blood and it's still wet so it's fresh. Jasper and Finn join us at the bottom.

"Someone else was here," Bellamy tells us, looking at some footprints.

"Prints are deeper going that way," Finn says, gesturing ahead of us. "He was carrying her."

"If they took her she's alive," Jasper adds. "Like when they took me and Nera." We stand up and continue the search for Octavia.

* * *

Eventually we come across several skeletons hanging from low branches in the trees. It's quite haunting actually, but I guess that's the point.

"I don't speak grounder," Finn speaks, "but I'm pretty sure this means keep out."

"Let's get out of here," a guy mutters.

"Go back if you want," Bellamy says. Some people turn and walk back to camp. Bellamy looks at me.

"I'm not turning back now," I state and he nods.

"My sister, my responsibility," he mumbles and walks past the skeletons. I walk with him and glance back to see Jasper and Finn also coming. I give Jasper a small smile, knowing this must be difficult for him.

* * *

We've been walking through the forest for a while now. The sun's come up making it easier for us to see. But I get the horrible feeling that we're being watched.

"I got nothing," Finn sighs. "We lost the trail."

"Keep looking," Bellamy says.

"Wandering around aimlessly isn't the way to find your sister," Finn responds. "We should backtrack-"

"I'm not going back," Bellamy interrupts. I look around nervously and Bellamy looks at me. "Babe, you okay?"

"I feel like we're being watched," I reply.

"Me too but we have to find Octavia."

"Hey, where's John?" Roma questions. I look around but don't see John anywhere.

"I just saw him a second ago," Jasper speaks.

"Spread out, couldn't have gotten that far," Bellamy says. I hear a thud and turn around. I step back in shock seeing John's dead body on the ground. Finn looks up.

"They use the trees," he realises.

"We shouldn't have crossed the boundary," A guy named Diggs says.

"Now can we go back?" Roma asks.

"There," Jasper points to a grounder.

"Another one," Diggs adds, his voice shaking slightly.

"We should run," Finn says. We all look at each other and then start running back the way we came.

"What are we gonna do? They keep heading us off!" Diggs yells.

"Just keep running!" I shout.

"I can't run much longer!" Jasper replies.

"I'm not stopping for him," Diggs yells.

"I'm sick of running anyway," Bellamy says and stops running.

"What are you doing?" Finn asks. The rest of us except Diggs stop running.

"They know where she is," Bellamy replies. There are about three grounders running towards us right now.

"Diggs!" Roma yells and takes off running. "Where are you?"

"Roma!" We run after her. I hear Roma scream

"Wait! Roma, there could be more," Finn exclaims and we stop running. But Roma is nowhere to be seen.

"Stop!" Bellamy shouts as we see Diggs impaled by a grounder trap.

"They were leading us here," Jasper says.

"It's the only direction we could run in," I add. I look around but don't see any grounders. Where are they?

"Where'd they go?" Finn voices my thoughts.

"After Roma," Bellamy guesses and we start running again.

* * *

"There she is," a girl named Monroe speaks. I look ahead and see Roma part hidden behind a tree. "Roma," Monroe whisper-yells.

"Something's wrong. She's too still," I say and walk over to Roma. My eyes widen when I see her with a spear sticking out of her chest and blood coming from her mouth. Her eyes are open and empty, I close them.

"They're playing with us," Finn states. "They could kill us whenever they want."

"Then they should GET IT OVER WITH!" Jasper yells angrily. "COME ON!"

"Jasper stop!" Finn walks over to Jasper. Jasper continues to yell.

"They're coming!" Monroe shouts. She's right. There are grounders running towards us from all directions. Then a horn sounds and all the grounders run off somewhere else.

"They're leaving," Bellamy says.

"That horn, what does it mean?" Jasper wonders.

"Acid fog," Finn states and takes out a tarp that will protect us from the fog.

"We have to run," Monroe says.

"There's no time," Finn shakes his head and puts the tarp on the ground.

* * *

We are all lying under the tarp but we have no idea whether the fog has cleared or not. I'm lying between Bellamy and Finn.

"How long are we supposed to wait?" Jasper asks.

"Will this even work?" Monroe questions.

"We'll find out," Finn replies.

"No we won't," Bellamy says and gets out from under the tarp. "There's no fog."

"You think it was a false alarm?" Finn wonders. I see a grounder move through the trees.

"They're coming back," Bellamy says.

"I think he's alone," Jasper whispers.

"Now can we run?" Monroe asks.

"He doesn't see us," Bellamy states. "I'm going after him."

"I know. Then what?" Finn questions. "Kill him?"

"No, catch him," Bellamy responds. "Make him tell me where Octavia is, then kill him." He starts following the grounder, the rest of us also following.

* * *

We find the entrance to an underground tunnel and go inside the tunnel. There are two ways we can go, left or right. Bellamy goes left and we follow him. We reach the end of the tunnel and find someone chained to the wall.

"Bellamy?" A girl's voice asks. Octavia's voice!  
"Octavia!" Bellamy rushes over to her.

"Get the key," she says and Bellamy unlocks the lock on her chains.

"Monroe, watch the entrance," Bellamy orders. Monroe nods and leaves. Then I notice an unconscious grounder on the floor.

"Octavia, did you knock out a grounder?" I look at her and she nods. "Badass." I smile and Octavia laughs a little. Bellamy takes the chains off her wrists and Octavia hugs him.

"It's okay, you're okay," he says. After a while they pull away and I hug Octavia.

"I'm glad we found you," I say.

"How did you find me?" Octavia asks, going over to Jasper.

"Followed him," Jasper answers, nodding at the grounder. Octavia hugs him.

"We should go," she states. "Now, before he wakes up," she looks at the grounder. Bellamy also looks at the grounder.

"He's not gonna wake up," he picks up a spear. Finn walks closer to the grounder.

"Bellamy, stop," Octavia looks at her brother, "he didn't hurt me. Let's just go."

"They started this," he reminds her. Finn is crouched next to the grounder. "Finn, move," Bellamy says.

"Fog horn," Finn mutters. As quick as a flash, Finn is on the ground with a knife in his side and the grounder is stood up. Bellamy lunges at the grounder and I crouch down beside Finn, Octavia crouches on the other side of him. I look back at Bellamy and the grounder.

"No!" I shout, seeing Bellamy on the ground with a spear pressed to his throat by the grounder.

"Stop! That's my brother!" Octavia yells. Jasper stands behind the grounder and hits him over the head, knocking him out. Bellamy throws the spear to the side and I hug him tightly.

"I'm fine," he whispers. I nod and look at Finn.

"We need to get him back to camp, only Clarke can save him."

* * *

"Clarke! Where's Clarke?!" Jasper shouts as we go through the gate back into camp. Bellamy is carrying Finn and Jasper is helping Octavia walk because her leg is injured. Clarke jogs over.

"I'm here, what's up?" She asks, frowning. Then Bellamy comes through the gate with Finn, who is now extremely pale. Some guys take Finn off Bellamy. "Finn..." Clarke's eyes widen and she rushes over to Finn. "Finn! Oh my god!" She checks his pulse as Raven joins us.  
"Oh my god..." Raven mumbles.

"He's alive," Clarke states.

"Bellamy wouldn't let me take the knife out," Jasper says.

"No, that was a good call," Clarke responds. "Get him in the drop ship! Now! Go!" The guys nod and carry Finn to the drop ship. Raven looks at Clarke.

"Clarke! Can you save him?" She asks desperately.

"No. Not me. I need my mother. I need to talk to her."

"There's still no radio!" Raven panics.

"Raven, fix it. Go!" Clarke orders. Raven nods and walks to her tent. Clarke looks at me, "Nera I'm going to need your help." I nod and we start to walk to the drop ship when Octavia walks past. Clarke notices her limping and stops her.

"Hey, you okay?" She asks.  
"Yeah," Octavia answers.

"Okay," Clarke nods.

"Just go," Octavia says. Clarke and I jog to the drop ship.

* * *

~ Bellamy's P.O.V~

I watch Nera go to the drop ship with Clarke. I look at Octavia and notice her about to walk out of the gate. Firstly, where the hell is she going? And secondly, why was she defending the grounder earlier?

"Hey! Hey!" She stops and looks at me. "Why were you defending him?" I question.

"Because he saved my life," she replies. "That spear that hit Roma was actually meant-"

"No. You're wrong. _I_ saved your life. For all you know, he was keeping you alive to use you as bait for one of their traps."

"No," she shakes her head, "I don't think so."

"You don't think, O. That's the problem," I say. "They killed three of our people today. And if you had let me killed him when I had the chance, Finn wouldn't be in there dying right now."

"Stop blaming me for your mistakes," she snaps. "What happened to Finn is not my fault. I wanted to leave. So if Finn dies in there, that's on you!" I don't say anything. "Everything that's gone wrong is because of you. You got me locked up on the Ark, you wanted me to go to that stupid dance, you got mum killed!"

"Me? Mum was floated for having you. She's dead because you're alive. That was her choice. I didn't have a choice. My life ended the day you were born." She stares at me and then moves to walk out of the gate. I grab her arm, stopping her. "Where do you think you're going?"

"You can't keep me locked up in here forever," she says and pulls her arm back. "I don't know what Nera sees in you." She walks off further into camp. I sigh and see a guy stood outside camp.

"Get inside," I order. "Go." He walks past me into camp and I look up at the sky. "There's a storm coming," I mumble before I close the gate.


	7. Contents Under Pressure

~ Nera's P.O.V~

I help people bring essential supplies into the drop ship as the storm continues. Clarke is stood near the entrance to the drop ship. I run into the drop ship and put down the small box of rations I was carrying in. Clarke walks over to Raven and Finn, I walk over to them. Finn is still slipping in and out of consciousness and Raven is desperately trying to contact the Ark.

"Can anyone hear me?" Raven tries but gets no response.

"You sure you have the right frequency?" A girl asks.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Raven replies angrily.

"Raven," Clarke says gently. Raven looks at her. "You can do this, okay?" Raven turns back to the radio and Clarke goes over to Finn. She pulls the cloth off of the knife wound in Finn's side. The knife still hasn't been removed yet. I hand her a clean cloth and she wraps it around the wound.

"Calling Ark station," Raven tries again. "Ark station, please come in. I'm on the ground with the 100. We need you." She says the last part quietly, looking at Finn. Raven keeps trying and I wonder how long it will be before Bellamy comes back. He said he had to do something out of camp and he hasn't come back yet. I'm a little worried about him because of the storm.

"This is a restricted channel. Who is this?" Someone eventually replies. "Please identify yourself." Clarke and I stand either side of Raven.

"This is Raven Reyes. I'm from Mecha station. I-I'm transmitting from the ground. The 100 are alive. Please, you need to get Doctor Abby Griffin. Doctor Abby Griffin, now."

"Hang on Raven. We're trying to boost your signal," a man answers. There's silence over the radio for a while.

"Raven? Are you there?" Abby asks.

"Mum?" Clarke speaks into the radio. "Mum, it's me."

"Clarke?"

"Mum, I need your help. One of our people was stabbed by a grounder."

"Clarke, this is the Chancellor," Jaha says. "Are you saying there are survivors on the ground?"

"Yes. The Earth is survivable. We're not alone," Clarke tells him. There's no reply. "Mum, he's dying. The knife's still in his chest."

"Clarke? Is my son with you?" Jaha asks. Clarke looks at the radio, I'm not sure she's able to answer.

"I got this," I say quietly to her.

"Thank you," she whispers.

"Chancellor Jaha, this is Nera Clarkson," I say. "This is a sensitive subject for Clarke but- I'm so sorry. I regret to inform you that Wells is... dead."

* * *

Clarke and I stand on either side of Finn. Abby is about to talk Clarke through how she's going to pull the knife out and fix Finn's wound. I'm there in case Clarke needs any help.

"I'm going to talk you through it, step by step," Abby says but the radio keeps crackling with static. "Clarke, just... find..." She says something unintelligible because there's too much interference from the storm.

"What?" Clarke shouts. "Raven what's wrong?"

"It's not the radio," Raven replies.

"It's the storm," I state. Octavia stumbles into the drop ship carrying two cans. She walks over to us and hands one to Clarke. She opens the lid and smells the contents of the can.

"Monty's moonshine," she guesses.

"I'm pretty sure no germ could survive it," Octavia responds. Thunder crackles outside.

"The storm's getting worse," Clarke mumbles. "Monroe, close the doors."

"But we still have people out there," Monroe objects.

"Monty and Jasper still aren't back yet," Octavia says.

"Neither is Bellamy," I add.

"It's alright," Clarke says. "They'll find somewhere to ride it out." Raven comes over to Clarke and holds a needle out to her.

"One stitching needle."

"Great. I still need something to close the wound," Clarke mutters.

"There's some wire on the second level," Octavia tells her. "I used it for the tents."

"Let's see it," Clarke replies.

"Stay away from the blue wires that run through the ceiling. I rigged it to the solar cells in the roof. That means they're hot, you got that?"

"Yeah, I got that," Octavia responds and goes up to the next level. Raven looks at Clarke.

"Tell me you can do this." Clarke doesn't respond.

"Hey, they're back!" A girl yells. Bellamy walks into the drop ship.

"Bellamy!" Octavia and I shout. Octavia just came back down to this level. Two guys walk in behind Bellamy dragging the grounder that kidnapped Octavia with them. They drop the grounder on the floor.

"'The hell are you doing?" Octavia demands to know.

"It's time to get some answers," Bellamy replies.

"Oh you mean revenge?" Octavia counters.

"I mean intel." He looks at the guys who brought the grounder in. "Get him upstairs." Clarke looks at Bellamy.  
"Bellamy, she's right."

"Clarke, we're ready," Abby's voice comes back over the radio. "Can you hear me?"

"Look, this is not who we are," Clarke states.

"Clarke?" Abby repeats.

"It is now," Bellamy says and goes to the next level. Clarke looks at me.

"Nera, please try and talk some sense into him." I nod.

"He's stubborn but I'll try."

* * *

Octavia and I go up to the top level where Bellamy is torturing the grounder. The grounder was struggling but he seems to have calmed down since Octavia came up. Bellamy looks at us.

"Octavia, Nera, get out of here."

"I told you, he was protecting me," Octavia says. "You didn't have to do this."

"This isn't about you," Bellamy responds. "I'm doing this for all of us."

"You did that for all of us?" Octavia looks at the grounder. His face is covered in blood.

"No I did that for Finn and Nera and Jasper and Diggs and John and Roma-"

"It wasn't even him," Octavia sighs.

"You don't know that!" Bellamy exclaims. "We need to know, what we're up against, how many there are and why they're killing us." Octavia shakes her head. "And he's gonna tell us right now."

"No Bellamy please," Octavia grabs his wrist. He pushes her away.

"Get her out of here," he orders and the two guys push Octavia towards the ladder. The grounder begins to struggle against his restraints.

"Hey! I was there, I swear. Hey, get off of me!" Octavia pushes the guys away from her. She walks over to the ladder. "I don't even think he speaks English. He won't understand you."  
"Well I think he will," Bellamy replies. Octavia sighs and leaves. Bellamy looks at me, "Nera please go downstairs. I don't want you to see this."

"There are better ways to get him to talk than this," I say. "You'll make an enemy out of him if you do this."

"He's a grounder. He's already our enemy."

"No. I don't believe he's our enemy," I state. "Just, think about what you're doing." I go back down the ladder and go to Raven and Clarke.

"How is Finn doing?" I ask them.

"I got the knife out," Clarke answers. "I just need to stitch up the wound."

* * *

With her mum's guidance, Clarke stitched up Finn's wound.

"Okay, I'm done," she states.

"Good, do you have anything to cover the wound?" Abby asks. Clarke shakes her head.  
"We'll make do, like always."

"Should he be this pale?" Raven wonders. "Warm, too."  
"He's lost a lot of blood, Raven. But if your boyfriend's anywhere near as tough as you I'm sure he'll be fine," Abby reassures her. Clarke looks at Raven and then looks down. She looks at Finn and tests his temperature.

"Wait, mum, she's right," she says worriedly. "He's feverish and his breathing is uneven."

"Well you need to give him some time to recover," Abby responds. "Let me know if he gets any worse but I think- I think he might just be out of the woods."

"Well down here there's nothing but woods," Clarke mumbles and wipes her forehead. "I need a break." She gets up and begins to walk out.

"Clarke? Clarke, wait," Abby speaks. Clarke stops. "Raven... could you give us a-a few minutes?"

"Sure," Raven says and looks at me pointedly.

"No, no. Stay with Finn," Clarke tells Raven. I frown, wandering what's going on with Clarke. "Nera, can I talk to you?" Clarke asks. We go up to the next level.

"What's up with you, Clarke?" I question. Clarke sighs. "I can tell there's something wrong."

"There is something wrong but this is just between you and me, right? You can't tell anyone else and right now, you're one of the few people I trust. So, promise me you won't tell anyone?" Clarke looks at me and I nod. "My mum was the one who turned my dad in. He was floated because of her. And the night before Raven came down, I slept with Finn. I thought he loved me but instead he broke my heart."

"Oh, Clarke I'm so sorry," I say and hug her.

"I-It's fine. It's not your fault," she shakes her head. "Anyway, did you get anywhere with talking to Bellamy?"

"Not really," I sigh.

"Let's go talk to him." I climb up the ladder first and open the hatch to the top level. I climb out and Clarke follows me. One of the guys stands in our way.

"Get the hell out of our way," I sigh.

"It's okay. Let them through," Bellamy says. The guy stands aside and Clarke and I walk further to the centre of the room. Clarke looks at the grounder.

"Well if he didn't hate us before he does now."

"That's pretty much what I said earlier," I say.

"Who cares?" Bellamy shrugs. "How's Finn?" He asks.

"Alive," Clarke answers. "His people will care. How long until they figure out where he is?"

"And what happens when they do, I mean, when they come looking for him?" I add.

"They will Bellamy," Clarke says.

"Relax, no one saw us take him. He was chained up in that cave the entire time and thanks to the storm, we didn't see a soul on the way back." Thunder booms and the drop ship shakes a little bit. "Look, in case you missed it, his people are already killing us." Bellamy opens what must be the grounder's journal and shows us a page with a drawing of our camp on it and another with a tally of how many of us are left. "How many more of our people need to die until you realise we're fighting a war."

"Look, we're not soldiers Bellamy," Clarke sighs. She glances at the grounder, "look at him, we can't win."

"You're right. We can't, if we don't fight."

"Clarke! He's seizing!" Raven yells.

"We're coming!" Clarke shouts and goes down the ladder. I go down after her to the ground level. Finn is having a seizure, like Raven said. Clarke rushes over to Finn.

"He was fine then-"

"Get my mother on the radio!" Clarke cuts Raven off. "Now! Raven, now!"

"The radio's dead, interference from the storm!" Raven stands next to Clarke. "Please don't let him die." Clarke looks at Finn helplessly.

* * *

Finn stops shaking uncontrollably.

"It's stopped. Quick, help me get him on his side," Clarke says. I help but Raven doesn't move. "There's fluid in his lungs!" Finn is laying on his side and Clarke checks his temperature again. "Oh god, he's burning up!"

"The fluid in his lungs, does that mean the knife-"

"No, it's not blood," Clarke interrupts Raven. "This is something else. I... I did everything she told me. Wait, I've seen this before. Shortage of breath, fever, seizing... its poison."

"Clarke you sterilised everything, I watched you do it," Raven says. I look at the knife Finn was stabbed with, the knife must be poisoned.

"It wasn't the equipment she used," I state and pick up the knife. I go to the ladder and climb up.

"Stay here," I hear Clarke say to Raven so she must be following me.

"Nera! Clarke! They locked the hatch," Octavia tells us. I sigh and climb up and bang on the hatch several times.

"Hey! Open the door! This is important!" I shout. Someone opens the hatch but blocks the top of the ladder. It's Miller. "Get out of my way Miller, now," I snap. Miller moves away and I step into the room, Clarke and Octavia following. I walk up to the grounder and hold the knife up in front of him.

"What's on this?" I question.  
"What are you talking about?" Bellamy asks.

"He poisoned the blade," Clarke replies. "All this time he knew Finn was gonna die no matter what we did."  
"What is it?!" I yell at the grounder. "Is there an antidote?"

"Nera, he doesn't understand you," Octavia says.

"Unless he answers us, Finn is gonna die!" I shout.

"Vials," Bellamy states and goes over to the pile of the grounder's belongings and picks up a small tin. "It's gotta be one of these." Clarke walks over to Bellamy.

"You'd have to be stupid to have a poison around this long without an antidote," she mumbles as she looks through the bottles in the tin. "Which one?" She demands, looking at the grounder.

"Answer the question!" Bellamy yells.

"Show us, please," Octavia tries.

"Which one?" Clarke asks again. "Our friend is dying down there and you can stop that!"

"I'll get him to talk," Bellamy says and walks over to the grounder. I step out of the way and Bellamy goes to punch the grounder but Octavia stops him.

"Bellamy no."

"He wants Finn to die, why can't you see that?" Bellamy shouts at her. He looks at me then at Clarke. "Do you want him to live or not?"

"Clarke, you even said it yourself, this is not who we are," Octavia tries. "He was protecting me, he saved my life."

"We're talking about Finn's life!" Bellamy snaps.

"Do it," Clarke says.

"Just tell us-" Octavia tries to walk towards the grounder but Miller holds her back. Bellamy cuts one of the seatbelt straps off of one of the seats and then cuts the grounder's shirt off.

"You're gonna show us the antidote or you're gonna wish you had."

"Bellamy no, please," Octavia tries desperately to stop him. Bellamy hits the grounder with the seatbelt twice. This isn't right. I drop the knife and take the tin of vials from Clarke. I put my hand on Bellamy's arm, telling him to stop hitting the grounder. I crouch down in front of the grounder and lay out all the bottles on the floor.

"Please, which one is the antidote?" I ask. The grounder doesn't respond.

"Just tell them," Octavia says. Bellamy puts his hand on my shoulder.

"Nera..." I stand up and stand beside Clarke. Bellamy starts hitting the grounder again.

* * *

Eventually Octavia can't take watching Bellamy beat up the grounder anymore.

"ENOUGH!" She screams. Bellamy stops.

"He's getting worse!" Raven shouts.

"We're running out of time," Clarke states. She crouches in front of the grounder and looks at the bottle. "Which one? Which one is it?" She looks up at the grounder.

"If you tell us, they'll stop," I say, looking at the grounder. "Please, tell us which is the antidote and then they'll stop this." Clarke sighs and stands up. Bellamy throws the seatbelt into a corner of the room.

"If that doesn't work, maybe this will." He picks up a sharp bit of metal and faces the grounder. He looks at me. "Nera, you don't have to be here for this."

"I'm staying," I say. "I need to know that we can save Finn's life, good friends are hard to come by." Bellamy looks at the grounder and I turn away as he's about to drive the metal through the grounder's hand.

"What's taking so long?" Raven asks, climbing up the ladder. "He stopped breathing."

"What?!" Clarke yells.

"He started again but next time he might not."

"He won't tell us anything," Clarke says.

"Want a bet?" Raven goes to the wires in the drop ship wall and pulls out two blue wires.

"What are you doing?" Bellamy asks, moving out of Raven's way and standing next to me.

"Showing you something new," she says, making the cables spark. She uses the wires to electrocute the grounder. The grounder screams in pain and I face the other side of the room, unable to watch. Bellamy wraps his arms around me and I bury my head in his chest. "Which one is it?" Raven questions. "Come on!" Raven electrocutes him again. "He's all I have!" Raven cries.

"No more!" Octavia yells. I look at her wondering what she's going to do.

"He's letting Finn die!" Raven screams back. Octavia holds up the poisoned knife and begins to cut her forearm. I take a step towards her.

"Octavia, no!" Bellamy exclaims.

"Octavia what are you doing?!" I ask.

"He won't let me die," Octavia says.

"Octavia what the hell did you-" Octavia pushes Bellamy away from her and kneels in front of the grounder. She picks up one of the vials, "is it this one?" The grounder doesn't respond. Octavia picks up another bottle, "this one?" The grounder nods and Octavia sighs in relief. She gives the bottle to Clarke and her and Raven go down to Finn. Bellamy goes to help Octavia with her wound but she moves away from him.

"Don't touch me," Octavia snaps. Hurt flashes across his face and he leaves, I go out after him.

* * *

Clarke has given Finn the antidote. Now we have to wait for him to wake up. I stand next to Bellamy and he hugs me.

"Hopefully things get better," he mumbles. "Stay away from the grounder, please."

"I won't go near him," I nod.

"Good," Bellamy smiles and kisses me softly. "I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

Later on Clarke removed the metal from the grounder's hand but that was all she did for him. Octavia is up there with him at the moment. I get a bucket of water and a cloth and carefully carry them up to Octavia. She's stood in front of the grounder. I put the water and cloth on the floor next to her and she looks at me.

"His wounds need to be cleaned," I state. She nods and smiles a little.

"Thanks," she says. "I don't see why you wanna help him but..."

"You're my best friend Octavia. You obviously care about this grounder so if you wanna help him then, I'm not gonna stop you." Octavia hugs me.

"You're a good friend, Nera." I smile slightly and leave.

* * *

I get to the ground level of the drop ship and see Finn awake. I smile, glad he's okay.

"I thought I lost you," Raven says to him. I walk over to Clarke.

"You okay?" I ask quietly.

"Yeah," she replies. "I'm fine."

"Alright," I walk out of the drop ship and look around at all the storm damage. I sigh and run a hand through my hair, thinking about how I acted earlier when I knew the knife was poisoned.

"Nera, are you okay?" Bellamy asks, walking up to me.

"I keep thinking about how I acted earlier. I yelled at the grounder and for a minute, I was okay with him being tortured, I- That's not me."

"Nera, who we are, and who we need to be to survive are very different things," he says. I look at the drop ship.

"What are we gonna do with him? We can't keep him locked up forever."

"If we let him go, he'll be back, and not alone next time," he replies. "It's not easy being in charge, is it?"

"You and Clarke are the ones who are in charge. The people listen to you."

"The people listen to you too, haven't you noticed that? You're a leader too, Nera."


	8. Day Trip

~Nera's P.O.V~

I walk past the communications tent where people can talk to their parents on the Ark. I stop walking when I hear something suspicious. I stand out of sight from Dax, who is inside the tent, and stay quiet.

"...in return, I can guarantee your mum a spot on the first drop ship and for you, a choice assignment when I get to the ground," I hear the voice of... Shumway? He's not related to Dax. What the hell are they talking about?

"What do you want me to do?" Dax asks.

"Kill Bellamy Blake," Shumway answers. My eyes widen and I walk away from outside the tent, trying to make it look like I didn't just hear that. I walk over to Jasper and Monty who are sorting through some nuts.

"Hey guys," I greet them.

"Hi Nera," Monty responds.

"Hey Nera, what are they gonna do with the grounder?" Jasper asks. I look towards the drop ship and see Bellamy walking out. I look back at Jasper and Monty.  
"I'd rather not think about it," I reply.

"Well it's been days since Bellamy captured him," Jasper states. "How long until his friends come looking?" Monty pats Jasper's arm.

"Cheer up. In that time, we'll all be dead from hypothermia," Monty says.

"Nera," I turn around and see Bellamy. "Me and Clarke are going to find some more supplies for winter."

"Okay. How long will you be gone?" I enquire.

"Only a day," he answers. "Keep an eye on things around here, especially my sister."

"Be careful," I say and hug him. Bellamy hugs me back tightly and then presses his lips to mine.

"Don't worry, I'll be careful," he mumbles. "I love you more than anything, you know that, right?" I nod.

"I love you so much," I say. He kisses me again, passionately this time, and then walks over to Clarke, who is waiting for him. I sigh, watching them leave. Bellamy's acting strangely... I see Dax follow them out. _Kill Bellamy Blake_, Shumway's words to Dax run through my mind. I get my knife and a pack with supplies in it. I walk towards the gate and bump into Miller.

"Nera? Where are you off to?"

"I'm going out of camp. I'll be back soon," I say and leave the camp, going after the others.

* * *

~Bellamy's P.O.V~

Clarke and I walk to the site where the depot is supposed to be. I won't be going back to camp tonight. I'm waiting for an opportunity to leave. I have to leave. The Ark will come down soon and they'll kill me. I don't want to leave Nera or Octavia but I have no choice. I'll come back for Nera one day, Octavia hates me so I don't expect her to come with me.

"You know, the first drop ship is gonna come down soon," Clarke says. "Pretty sure you can't avoid Jaha forever." I roll my eyes.

"I can try." We reach the top of a small valley and stop walking. There are ruins of a few buildings and there's water everywhere.

"The depot is supposed to be around here somewhere," Clarke sighs.

"There's gotta be a door," I state and look around.

"Maybe he'll be lenient," Clarke says. I huff in annoyance and look at her.

"Look, I shot the man, Clarke. He's not just gonna forgive and forget. Let's just split up, cover more ground. Stay within shouting distance." I walk off to the right, looking for a door to the depot.

* * *

"Bellamy!" Clarke yells. I stand up and see her. "Over here. I found a door." I follow her to the door. She tries to open it but it won't budge. She looks at me, "I think its rusted shut."

"Watch your foot," I say and hit the edge of the door with my hatchet. "Okay, give me a hand." We both manage to pull the door open and see a set of stairs. Clarke goes down first. She takes a flashlight out of her pack and switches it on.

"Here," she hands me the flashlight and then takes another one out of her pack. I look around.

"Really think this place hasn't been touched since the war?"

"A girl can dream," she sighs. "Come on." She starts walking through the depot. I follow her down some more stairs and we see a rotting skeleton.

"Hell of a place to die," I comment.

"So much for living down here," Clarke says. "This place is disgusting. Damn it!"

"Anything left down here is ruined," I observe. Clarke looks in an empty box.

"They must have distributed most of the supplies before the last bombs went off," she states. I open a box and sigh, finding it empty. "Hey! I found blankets."

"Excited about a couple of blankets?"

"Well, it's something," Clarke snaps, annoyed, and slams the lid of the box she was looking in shut.

"How about a canteen or a med kit or a decent fricking tent?!" I retort. I open the lid of a container and find nothing but grease in it. I huff and kick the container over, spilling the grease on the floor. But... guns also fall out of the container. I crouch down and look at the guns, they're rifles. "Oh my god."

"What?" Clarke comes over and I hold up a rifle.

* * *

"This changes everything," I say. "No more running from spears. Ready to be a badass, Clarke?"

"Look, I'm not gonna fight you on bringing guns back to camp," she replies. "I know we need them but... don't expect me to like it."

"We're lucky the rifles were packed in grease. The fact that they survived means, we're not sitting ducks anymore. You need to learn how to do this."

"So I just hold it on my shoulder?" Clarke positions the rifle on her shoulder a little too low.

"You need to hold it a little higher. Here, watch and learn," I pick up a rifle and aim it at a black 'x' on a red sheet of material I found and put up as a target. I pull the trigger but it doesn't fire. I try a few more times but still nothing.

"My bullets are duds," I sigh. "Try yours." Clarke aims at the target and shoots, the gun fires but she completely misses the 'x'.

"That, was amazing," she states. "Am I horrible for feeling that?"

"Try again, see if you can hit the 'x' this time."

"No, we shouldn't waste the ammunition," she shakes her head.

"You need to practise," I disagree.

"No. We need to talk about how we're gonna keep these guns around camp. Where are we gonna keep them? Who has access?" She rambles on. I pick up another gun and fire at the target. This time it fires and I narrowly miss the centre of the 'x'. "You left Miller in charge of the grounder," Clarke states. You must trust him."

"You and Nera should keep him close," I say, thinking about the fact that I'm leaving. "The others listen to him."

"Me and Nera should keep him close? Bellamy, what's going on? You've been acting weird all day. All the rations you took, the way you said goodbye to Nera... as if you wouldn't see her again... You're gonna run," she realises. "That's why you agreed to come with me. You were gonna load up on supplies and just disappear-"

"I don't have a choice," I interrupt. "The Ark will be here soon."

"So you're just gonna leave Octavia and Nera?" Clarke questions.

"Octavia hates me, she'll be fine," I say.  
"And what about Nera? You'll break her heart," she states and I sigh.

"I'll come back for her."

"Then don't lea-"

"I shot the Chancellor!" I exclaim. "They're gonna kill me, Clarke. Best-case scenario they lock me up with the grounder for the rest of my life, and there's no way in hell I'm giving Jaha the satisfaction. Keep practising, I need some air." I walk past her out of the depot.

* * *

I walk outside and stop, crouching down and breathing in deeply. I hear a twig snap and look up, but don't see anything.

"Bellamy Blake," I hear Jaha's voice. But that's impossible, he's on the Ark. I look to my left and see Jaha stood there, holding his stomach wound where I shot him. I slowly stand up.

"How are you here? You're on the Ark," I say, trying to keep my voice steady.

"You shot me on the Ark. But I've been waiting for you," Jaha responds. He removes his hands from his wound and the blood soaks through his shirt.

"I did what I had to do," I state.

"To protect Octavia and Nera," he begins to walk close to me.

"That's right."

"Pathetic," Jaha snarls. "Using your sister and the girl you love to justify your crimes, your cruelty, your selfishness?"

"If you're gonna kill me just do it."

"Why should I kill you? Unlike the others, I survived your treachery."

"What are you talking about?"

"The 320 souls that were culled from the Ark so that others could live. You knew that they would be sacrificed."

"The radio," I remember. "I didn't know that would happen."

"It's not my forgiveness you should seek. It's theirs," he looks to his left. I look to left and see some citizens from the Ark, who must be the 320, slowly walking towards me repeating 'murderer'. "Murderer," I hear Jaha whisper right behind me. I can't take this.

"Stop!" I yell and take off running away.

* * *

~Nera's P.O.V~

I'm sat out of sight watching Dax. Clarke and Bellamy have found the depot and now I'm keeping an eye on Dax.

"Nera," Jack's voice reaches my ears.

"J-Jack?" I look straight ahead of me and see that familiar mess of ash brown hair. "W-what- How are you here?"

"I'd follow you anywhere, Nera."

"Why are you here?"

"I don't know," he shrugs. "I guess I'm here so you can apologise for blaming me for your parents' death when it wasn't exactly my fault. Or maybe it's to point out the huge mistake you've made."

"What? Look, I'm sorry for blaming you. I know that was wrong but, what huge mistake are you talking about?"

"The one where you say you're in love with Blake," Jack replies. "Why are you with him? He's a murderer, Nera. A cold-hearted, selfish murderer."

"No. No, you're wrong! Bellamy is caring and protective. He's stubborn but he's a good man," I respond.

"A good man?" Jack scoffs. "Bellamy Blake is anything but that."

"I don't care about what you think. I love him and that will never change." I look down and back up. Now there is no sign of Jack, just the silence of the air around me. I look to where Dax was hiding but he's not there. _Oh no._

* * *

~Bellamy's P.O.V~

I keep running from the 320 people who died and from Jaha but I can't escape them. I enter a small clearing and sink down to my knees, I look at Jaha.

"Please, kill me," I beg. "Kill me!" I remember I have a gun in my pocket and take it out. I look at Jaha again. "I deserve it, please." I fall back into the mud when Jaha hits me. "I can't fight anymore!"

"Don't you know?" Jaha speaks. "Life is a fight." I fly back after Jaha kicks me in the stomach.

"What am I supposed to do?" I ask.

"Live, breathe," Jaha kicks my arm which I was supporting myself with. "Suffer. You owe them that. You want the peace of death." He crouches down in front of me. "Then you're gonna have to earn it." He kicks my stomach again. "Fight back!" Then he punches me. "You think, you deserve to be free of your pain. Do you deserve that gift? Because you're gonna get it," his voice changes into someone else's. I get hit again and when I look up I see Dax stood there with a rifle aimed at me.

"Nothing personal," he says and pulls the trigger but the rifle doesn't fire. I see my gun and I pick it up and aim it at him but there's nothing in my hand.

"Put it down, Dax," Nera says. She's stood pointing a rifle at him. What is she doing here?

"You should've stayed hiding, Nera," Dax replies. "Although, you're not that good at hiding, I know you've been following me. But here you are and as Shumway says, no witnesses."

"I know very well what Shumway said to you," she snaps back. "I was stood outside the tent listening to your conversation."

"Walk away now. I don't want to kill you."

"Walk away? Walk away from someone shooting my boyfriend, not bloody likely. Put the rifle down."

"Your choice," Dax states.

"Nera just go, please," I say. "I don't want you getting hurt."

"It doesn't matter if I leave or stay, I'll still get hurt," she responds. She pulls the trigger of her rifle but it, like so many others, doesn't fire. Dax fires his rifle twice at her, his gun works. Anger fills me and I tackle Dax. I punch him several times then he pushes me away from him and punches me. He reaches for his rifle and I try to stop him. He hits me with the end of his gun and then pushes it against my throat, making harder to breathe.

"Get the hell off him!" Nera yells and he punches her. I see a discarded bullet and take my chance. I grab the bullet and plunge it into Dax's neck. He falls back and stops moving. Nera crawls to a tree and rests her back against it. I go over to her and sit next to her.

"You're okay," she says.

"No, I'm not," I respond. "My mother... if she knew what I'd done, who I am... She raised me to be better, to be good."

"Bellamy..."

"And all I do is hurt people. I'm a monster."

"You haven't hurt me. All you've ever done is try to protect me and Octavia. I'm grateful for that and so is Octavia even if she doesn't show it. You've always been there for me Bellamy. You always pick me back up when I fall apart. I need you. And Clarke and I can't lead everyone without you. We all need you. None of us would've survived this place if it wasn't for you." I look away from her. "You want forgiveness? Fine, I'll give it to you. You're forgiven, okay?" She continues. "But you can't run, Bellamy. You have to come back with me and Clarke. You have to face it." I look back at her. "I can't promise to fix all your problems, but I can promise that you won't have to face them alone. Okay? I'll never leave you."

"That's what I said to you the day your parents were floated," I say.

"I know," she nods. There's silence between us.

"Jaha will kill me when he comes down," I speak.

"We'll figure something out."

"Can we figure it out later?"

"Whenever you're ready," she says and hugs me. I hold her there in my arms. I'm lucky to have her, I don't really deserve her.

* * *

~Nera's P.O.V~

We walk back into camp where everyone is shouting because the grounder escaped and they are scared of an attack. Me, Bellamy and Clarke have got rifles from the depot.

"Let the grounders come," Bellamy says causing the camp to fall silent. We stop walking in front of the fire so everyone can see us. "We've been afraid of them for far too long. Why? 'Cause of their knives and spears. Well I don't know about you, but I'm tired of being afraid." He looks at me and Clarke and we nod. All three of us take the guns off our shoulders so everyone can see them.

"These are weapons, okay? Not toys," Clarke speaks. "And we have to be prepared to give them up to the guard when the drop ships come."

"But until then, they're gonna help keep us safe," I add. "And there are plenty more where these came from."

"Tomorrow we start training," Bellamy says. "And if the grounders come, we're gonna be ready to fight."

* * *

Clarke walks up to me.

"Jaha's ready to speak to Bellamy," she tells me.

"Thank you. I'll go get him," I say and walk closer to where he is talking to his sister. "It's time to speak to Jaha now." Bellamy nods and begins to walk to me. He stops and looks at Octavia.

"The grounder escaping, was that you?" He asks.

"I had nothing to do with it," she answers. "Thanks for the blanket." Bellamy walks towards me and we walk to the communications tent.

"Clarke's in there at the moment, you can still go in," I say. "Good luck," I kiss his cheek and he walks into the tent.

* * *

~Bellamy's P.O.V~

"Mr Blake," Jaha starts as I sit down and put the headset on. "I've wanted to talk to you for some time now."

"Before you do I-I'd like to say something," Clarke says. "When you sent us down here, you sent us to die. But, miraculously, most of us are still alive. And a large part of that is because of him, because of Bellamy. He's one of us, and he deserves to be pardoned for his crimes, just like the rest of us."

"Clarke, I appreciate your point of view but it's not that simple," Jaha responds. "He used a gun on me. That cannot be taken lightly."

"He only did it for his sister and Nera," Clarke replies. "Bellamy's different when he's with Nera, she can make him a better person."

"And I can tell you who in the Ark wants you dead," I add. Jaha sighs and is silent for a while.

"Bellamy Blake, you are pardoned for your crimes," he finally says. "Now, tell me who gave you the gun."

"It was Commander Shumway."

* * *

I walk out of the communications tent and see Nera. I run over to her and lift her up.

"Bellamy!" She exclaims. She looks at me and smiles, I smile back.

"Jaha's pardoned me for my crimes," I tell her. She gasps.

"Oh my god, that's brilliant!" She smiles brightly and plants a kiss on my lips. I set her back down on the ground and keep my arms around her waist. "You get to live the rest of your life now."

"This is going to sound really cheesy..."

"It's fine. I'm a hopeless romantic," she says and smiles.

"I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you," I state, smiling.


	9. Unity Day

~Nera's P.O.V~

"My friends, this is a historic Unity Day," Jaha says on the small screen that we have set up so anyone who wants to watch can. It's only a one way video. He's talking to others on the Ark and it's recorded for us on the ground. "Every year, we mark the moment our ancestors of the twelve stations joined to form the Ark, but this is the last time we do so while aboard her. Next year, on the ground."

"Right," Miller speaks, "after we did all the work. Someone shut him up."

"You shut up Miller," I say. "You don't have to watch." I tune out of the video and look around camp.

"Woo! Yeah! Monty strikes again!" Jasper yells, coming out of his and Monty's tent. "Call this batch Unity Juice! Who's thirsty?" People cheer and crowd around Jasper, all desperate for the 'Unity Juice' Jasper and Monty have made.

* * *

The Unity Day celebrations on the ground really kick off when night falls. There are people drinking and playing games and messing around. But not everyone is celebrating. I'm not. I never saw Unity Day as a cause for celebration. What was there to celebrate anyway? I spot Bellamy and walk over to him.

"Hey Bell." He looks at me and smiles.

"Hey beautiful."

"The comms are still dead," I tell him. "They cut out during the pageant."

"Best Unity Day ever," he says sarcastically and raises his eyebrows at me. I chuckle and look at everyone else as they celebrate.

"Do you really think now is a good time to be having a party?" I ask. "I mean, the Grounder is still out there."

"Grounders," he corrects me. "By now he'd have made it home. He's probably putting together a lynch mob. It's all right, I've got security covered. You should go have some fun, join the party while there's still time to have fun before the first exodus ship comes down."

"No thanks, I'm not in the mood for partying," I say. "I have a bad feeling."

"Wait, what kind of bad feeling?"

"Like something really bad is going to happen soon," I answer and Bellamy frowns.

"Nera, nothing is going to happen. We are prepared."

"I know we are prepared," I nod. Bellamy pulls me into his arms.

"Anyway, if anyone tries to hurt you, I am here for you. No matter what. I'll never leave you," he promises.

"Is that our thing now? 'I'll never leave you'?"

"Yes. I'll never leave you."  
"I'll never leave you," I repeat. Bellamy smiles and kisses me.

"Hey, I need to talk to you both," Clarke says, walking over to us.

"Do you mind?" Bellamy responds rudely and continues to kiss me.

"This is serious," Clarke raises her voice slightly. I pull away from Bellamy and look at Clarke. Bellamy groans, keeping his arms around my waist, and looks at Clarke.

"Everything's serious with you. So talk," he says.  
"Finn's set up a meeting with the Grounders," she tells us. Bellamy's arms tighten around my waist. "I'm leaving to go talk to them."

"Because you think that impaling people on spears is code for 'let's be friends', have you lost your damn mind?" Bellamy snaps.

"I think it might be worth a shot," I speak up. They both look at me. "I mean, we do have to live with these people."

"They'll probably gut her, string her up as a warning," Bellamy says.

"That's why I'm here," Clarke cuts in. "I need you two to follow us. Be our backup."

"Does Finn know about this?" I enquire.

"Finn doesn't need to know," Clarke replies. "And Bellamy, Nera, bring guns." We nod in response and she walks away.

"We should find someone else to come as well," Bellamy says as he hands me a gun.

* * *

Bellamy decided we should get Jasper to come with us. We find him in the weapons tent with Raven who is making bullets.

"Jasper, you're coming with us," Bellamy says.

"I am?" Jasper looks at us.

"You handled yourself well in the cave with the Grounder," Bellamy states.

"I mean, I hit him in the head," Jasper responds as Bellamy reaches for some bullets. Raven puts her hand on his arm to stop him.

"If you're planning on shooting anything, you'd better think twice," she says. "I haven't checked those yet."

"Give me some bullets that work," Bellamy orders.

"What do you need them for?" Raven questions.

"You're boyfriend's being an idiot," he replies. Raven hands him some bullets.

"I'm coming with you," she decides.

"We should get Clarke," Jasper says.

"Clarke's with Finn," Raven guesses. "Isn't she?"

* * *

We follow far behind Clarke and Finn. Finn would most likely be pissed if he finds out we're following him and Clarke. I see some jobi nuts on the ground; Clarke's been leaving them behind for us as a trail to follow. Bellamy picks up the jobi nuts.

"At least they're good for something," he mutters.

"I'm sorry for bringing up Clarke earlier, that was awkward," Jasper says.

"Shut up," Raven responds.

"Both of you shut up," Bellamy cuts in. "Keep your eyes open."

* * *

Eventually we arrive at the meeting point. We are stood a little further down the river bank from where Clarke and Finn are at a bridge with... Octavia?

"What's Octavia doing here?" Jasper wonders. Someone jogs across the bridge from the other side. I recognise him as the Grounder we had locked up. Octavia runs to him and hugs him. I thought there was something going on between them.

"I guess we know how he got away," Raven says. Bellamy aims his gun at the Grounder.

"Bellamy, don't," I whisper, placing my hand on his arm. The other Grounders arrive at the opposite end of the bridge and I see that they have horses. So not only did some people survive the nuclear apocalypse... but some horses did too, and they haven't mutated in any physical way. Earth is full of surprises. I watch Clarke walk to the centre of the bridge where the Grounders' Leader meets her halfway. They talk for a while, at least I think they do, we can't hear them from where we're stood.

"Grounder Princess looks pissed," Raven comments.

"Our Princess has that effect," I say.

"Oh no... no... this is bad," Jasper says quietly.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Bellamy asks.

"There's Grounders in the trees," Jasper replies, looking through the scope on his rifle.

"What?" I look through the scope on my rifle.  
"Where?" Bellamy questions.

"You sure?" I look at Jasper.

"I don't see anything," Bellamy says.

"They're gonna shoot!" Jasper exclaims. "Clarke run!" He yells. "Run!" He walks out from the cover of the trees and starts shooting at the trees on the other side of the river.

"Jasper!" I shout. I see the Grounders' Leader is about to stab Clarke. I shoot her arm and Clarke whirls round and looks at me.

"We need to go," Bellamy says, pulling me back into the trees.

"What about Clarke?" I question.

"Finn's looking after her," Bellamy responds and runs through the trees, pulling me with him.

* * *

We all safely make it back to camp. Bellamy never let go of my hand, even as we ran through the woods. We stand outside the gates of the camp. Finn glares at Bellamy.

"You got anything to say?" Bellamy asks aggressively.

"Yeah. I told you no guns!" Finn turns accusingly to Clarke.

"I told you we couldn't trust the Grounders! I was right!" Clarke shouts back.

"Why didn't you tell _me_ what you were up to?!" Raven yells at Finn.

"I tried! But you were too busy making bullets for your gun!" Finn yells back.

"You're lucky she brought that!" Bellamy shouts. "They came there to kill you, Finn!"

"You don't know that!" Finn shouts at him.

"Hey!" I yell. "We're all angry and upset but can we just calm down for one second?! Or do you want everyone in camp to hear this?!"

"Jasper fired the first shot," Finn stated a little more calmly.

"You ruined everything," Octavia says, looking at Jasper. Then Octavia turns and walks into camp.

"I saved you!" Jasper yells after her. "You're welcome," Jasper mutters and walks into camp.

"Well if we weren't at war already, we sure as hell are now," Finn says, his voice is hoarse from yelling so much. He looks at Clarke. "You didn't have to trust the Grounders. You just had to trust me." Clarke doesn't respond. Finn sighs and walks past her into camp with Raven following.

"Like I said, best Unity Day ever," Bellamy remarks. I hear an explosion-like sound and look up into the night sky. I see a white object, a ship a guess, glide across the sky. "The Exodus ship?" Bellamy wonders, confusion in his tone.

"Clarke, you're mum's early," I say.

"Wait... too fast... no parachute. Something's wrong." We watch the Exodus ship land and there's a huge explosion as it lands. My eyes widen and I look at Clarke. Despair is evident on her face as she comprehends the fact that her mother just lost her life. Clarke sinks to her knees and Bellamy wraps his arm around my shoulders.


End file.
